Cartoon by James Sacabin
A nation that can read is a nation that can build. Imperative, then, to the Philippine nation-building, is a policy framework that stipulates an education system prioritizing literacy and investigating the structural factors that beset the reading capabilities of Filipinos, especially the young; constructing solutions that cross the lines beyond merely celebrating literacy during International Literacy Day.
Since 1967, the world has, as part of its universal battlecry to create literate and sustainable societies around the globe, annually celebrated the International Literacy Day every September 8 of the year. Spearheaded by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the ILD is observed yearly to remind the public, most importantly, the policy-makers and practitioners, of the significance of literacy as an important aspect of a person’s dignity and inherent right as a human being. Relative to this, the Philippines, through Proclamation No. 1886, s. 1979, has consistently and actively participated in the global march towards universal literacy while contextualizing this international commemoration of literacy in the promotion of its important role in the country’s pursuit of economic, social, and cultural development.
Check-a Up on the Status Ko
Central to this international celebration are the people’s ability to read and write, as these skills are chief among the tools necessary to effect change in a country towards becoming literate and sustainable. However, in the Philippines, a 2022 data from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) reported in December 2023 shows that Filipino 15-year-old students are five to six years behind their foreign peers in learning competencies. Results from this recent PISA report reflect Filipino students’ capabilities to use reading, mathematics, and science knowledge and skills to cope with real-life challenges. This led to the Philippines hitting a rock-bottom ranking based on the 2022 PISA after landing among the 10 out of 81 countries in reading comprehension, mathematics, and science.
Ultimately, these results are symptoms of an ailing education system in the country that now, more than ever, is in need of aid. Effective legislative pills and state policies will tackle the factors that left the quality of the students’ performance gasping for air from beneath their rankings. Filipino children must be led with an education that is anchored on an educational mechanism in schools that put a heavy emphasis on literacy, including mathematics and science. Because then, how must we, as a nation, rely on what Dr. Jose Rizal has prophesied to be the hope of our country if they fail to even acquire the bare minimum to build a country, to be literate?
Read to Build
To build a nation, we have to have professionals with expertise in several fields. Lawyers in the legal field for the formation of our laws and the proper practice of it in upholding the rule of law; our engineers and architects in the engineering and architectural field in spearheading the infrastructural development of our country that is conducive to human and economic development. Doctors and healthcare workers in the medical field who deliver medical services to the people; our entrepreneurs in innovating business ideas that craft creative products and introduce our countrymen’s artistic capabilities in making them. Teachers, especially, in elementary, secondary, and tertiary schools, to educate Filipinos. These professionals build the nation as they collectively contribute to the growth of the country and the most basic skill that they must first acquire is being literate.
The burden of literacy in nation-building pushes down the weighing scale on one side. Its role is paramount to national development, and it cannot be left neglected. The impact of illiteracy in the Philippines is heavy. It hinders the development of the potential of the Filipinos to become great builders of not only the country, but also the world, in the fields of education, law, science and technology, mathematics, and medicine, among others.
Hep, hep! Pasa All?
Even sari-sari stores these days require their tinderos or tinderas to be proficient in reading and writing, to some extent, they hold such a high standard that requires their applicants to be graduates of a bachelor’s degree, but in the school constituents of the Department of Education (DepEd), the rules are loose. Too loose, in fact, that even students who still do not know how to read and write can advance to higher grades. In relation to this, it is not a surprise that the Philippines consistently shows incompetence in ranking high in assessments such as the PISA.
Advocating for a ‘no student left behind’ policy in schools should not take quality performance from students as a collateral damage. This mantra should be redefined and set in a parameter that does not deprive students of the basics such as reading and writing. Leaving no student behind, instead, must mean that these students will not be left untaught, and that they will receive additional help to cope with their peers; because pasa all, pasado ought not to be the basic requirement to go to higher grade levels!
Kaka-CP Mo Iyan!
Filipinos who fall under the age groups of Gen Z and Gen Alpha might as well be called as the ‘Generation Teki’ because of their chronic addiction to technology such as their cellphones to play Mobile Legends and curse out on their peers, iPads to play games, laptops to watch KDramas, or PC to play Adventure Quests or Point Blank — which all contributed to the infamous Filipino parents’ tagline: “kaka-cellphone mo iyan!” But while it may seem as though these children or young Filipinos automatically become hopeless cases just because they are too drawn in by their gadgets almost 24/7, it actually presents a case of hope for the Philippines’ literacy issue.
Cultivating literacy among children does not and should not be confined inside the four corners of traditional classrooms. Education can happen elsewhere. As a matter of fact, it can happen anywhere, and to fit this narrative in the context of developing and enhancing Filipino students’ literacy skills, it must be framed with a structure that allows technology to play its important role: DepEd and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) should further expand their visions of 21st Century Education.
The accessibility of technology and the addiction of students to it should not be vilified. Instead, the bigger picture must be drawn and appreciated: these two can actually be utilized in championing a literate Filipino youth. The 21st Century Education of DepEd must encompass not the mere use of flat-screen TVs in classrooms, nor the distribution of computers among schools, or the giving of laptops to students. It should also include capacity building for both teachers and students. Teachers, as the frontliners of our education system, should first be capacitated so that they could incorporate using technology into their teaching style. Competencies as basic as reading could be taught through creative presentations where students may directly engage with the TV. In this dynamic, students learn how to read while also engaging in becoming literate in technology, giving two learning outcomes.
To put it into perspective, celebrating literacy should not be contained in a one-day celebration. To achieve its goal of establishing literate and sustainable societies, it must be more than a celebration, it has to be a conference of ideas to further advance its vision and craft measures that will resolve the illiteracy issue of the country and all across the world.
A nation that can read is a nation that can build. To capacitate this country, its people must first be capacitated on how to build a nation. The first step? Teach them how to read and write.
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