In the latter part of the Spanish regime, there were the ilustrados – or the enlightened ones, young men who studied in Europe. Not all of them came from ultra-rich families. The parents of Jose Rizal, without doubt, were comfortable, but it was no walk in the park for them to send their bright boy to Spain for a better education.
Surely, there were also good schools established in the Philippines during the Spanish period – some of which still exist to this day: UST. Ateneo, Letran, etc.
But generally, the Spaniards didn’t give a hoot about our education.
During the US colonization of the Philippines, if there’s one thing we should be thankful for, it is the fact that they gave us education. Remember the Thomasites? They were the first batch of American teachers who taught us the three R’s: Reading, wRiting and aRithmetic
When the educational system was left in the hands of Filipinos, the quality of education clearly suffered. And isn’t so embarrassing that a couple of CHED officials are currently in the news after getting suspended for various offenses?
I had always wanted to teach. Unfortunately, I don’t have the discipline for it. A professor at the Ateneo I know lives in one of the subdivisions off Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City. To be able to make it to his 8 a.m. class, he has to wake up at 4:30 a.m., eat, bathe, dress up and be out of the house by 6 a.m. because Katipunan traffic is a daily mess.
I cannot do that – will not do that. This is the reason why I have so much respect for teachers.
Prior to the pandemic, I thought it was time for me to give back to society. I don’t wallow in wealth. Being a philanthropist was out of the question.
But I can provide service. No, not as a volunteer in soup kitchens since I can’t cook to save my life.
I can’t even be trusted to scoop rice because I can be very clumsy. As a working student in the US, I didn’t even aspire to become a waiter since I’m the type who’d be dropping trays and breaking plates.
And so what did I do to give back to the community? I volunteered to teach. But it was on my own terms. I chose the time and if I had to shoot on a day I was supposed to teach, I was allowed to make adjustments.
I would have wanted to teach at UST or in one of those schools in the university belt. I thought it would be nice to have a whiff of fish balls being drowned in boiling oil before entering the school gate. Or perhaps buy a small bag of those greasy peanuts before sitting down to a lecture.
But España traffic had always terrified me. Oh, let’s not even get to Claro M. Recto Avenue. But really, I’ve always found those areas quaint and charming. To drive there on a regular basis, however, is a different story.
And so to anyone teaching at UST, UE, FEU and other schools in the area, I salute your dedication. You are among the finest people this side of the world.
But then, incredibly enough, I was able to fulfill my dream to teach. This was months before COVID-19 changed the way we live.
Since I live under the shadow of Mt. Carmel Church (it’s actually a minor basilica) in Quezon City, I applied there as a teacher – without remuneration. I was a new parishioner then and I inquired where I could fit it to be of service..
This was the time I discovered that Mt. Carmel was sending indigent high school and college students to school under a scholarship program. The students came from different schools – St. Paul, QC, Trinity College, PUP, etc. They all had their respective benefactors who chose the schools for them.
What I would I be teaching them? Mt. Carmel gave me two options: English or moral values. Of course, I opted for English. Whatever little moral values I had were eaten up by my profession and there wasn’t much left of it anymore.
The class I taught them had no bearing on their academic requirements. It wouldn’t even show in their class records. Everything was only supplementary.
When I attended the first day of class, I was aware that the quality of education in this country had already deteriorated. But I never thought it was THAT bad.
No one knew the meaning of the word “viand” (ulam). Never mind if they ate that with rice twice or even thrice every day. And these were students in college!
What have the officials of the Department of Education been doing all these decades? They raised generations of students with bad grammar and a severe lack of interest in reading books.
When I found out therefore that there was a subject on Taylor Swift (an elective) to be taught in UP, that didn’t surprise me anymore. UP, of course, isn’t the first school to have a subject on Taylor Swift.
NYU first taught it in 2022. The University of Texas in Austin later introduced The Taylor Swift Songbook, which compares the American singer’s works with Chaucer, Keats, and even Shakespeare. This last one is acceptable to me because the lyrics of the singer’s songs may eventually end up in the altar of great literary works.
Why teach it in UP? Do we need that in the Philippines when the more important Asian history had been taken out in the curriculum in one school? I read and reread an online article written by the professor teaching the subject at the State U, but the piece she wrote fails to justify why Taylor Swift should be taught in UP.
And ma’am, skip “the” before academe. Dep.Ed people, see what you’ve done!
I tried asking other UP professors why Taylor Swift is being taught in their school. They say that there is a lot to be learned even in the marketing strategy of the people behind Swift’s career.
Then, why not Fernando Poe, Jr? FPJ knew how to handle his career. He even had the foresight when it came to archiving his films.
But FPJ is a local celebrity, one UP professor told me. Students are more likely inclined to enroll in a Taylor Swift class.
And so, it boils down to economics? It was at this point that the teacher painted a grim picture of today’s academic landscape. Low enrollment in practically all schools.
Educational institutions are now doing everything to lure students to enroll and so why not dangle Taylor Swift? Further research has led me to the discovery that most students don’t want to slave over science and other basic subjects taught in school – no thanks to social media.
Gone is the noble desire to serve the country and be an upright individual. All students want these days is to be rich and famous. Now, THAT finally justifies why Taylor Swift is being taught in UP. It’s finally clear to me – at last!
The Women of Malolos who – in 1888 - went to great lengths just to be allowed some education must now be collectively somersaulting in their graves.
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