Filipino schoolchildren continue to show very low scores in science and mathematics tests. Their simple operational mastery of the English language is close to nil. These are hard facts that serve as impetus to the continued move by the Philippine Department of Education to bolster knowledge in core subjects among Filipino public schoolchildren.

Public elementary students receive an average of 32 hours of learning instruction in a week. Science, Math, and Filipino receive an average of 15 percent each, while English receives an average of 20 percent of the weekly time. The remaining 35 percent of total weekly time are spent on social studies, home economics and livelihood, values education, and good manners and right conduct.

Unqualified and poorly trained teachers, inadequate facilities and equipment, lack of instructional materials (textbooks and teacher’s manuals), an ever-increasing poverty, low educational attainment and illiteracy of parents, and poor health and nutrition were found to have been contributing to the problems in education.

While the availability of textbooks has been gradually assured, other basic educational requirements such as school buildings, teachers, and instructional equipment have not been fully provided. This led to the adoption of measures like increasing class sizes, holding multiple shifts, and assigning teaching overloads. Even with such measures, school buildings and teachers are still inadequate.

There are too little resources for too many students.

Reality bites. The figures are beyond sad, they are alarming. UNICEF reports that 15 percent of school-age children are not in school. Participation rates in public elementary schools have also decreased since 2000.

The low survival rate in elementary schooling largely contributes to the increase of out-of-school youth and illiterates. Studies further reveal that pupils who drop out of school before Grade IV revert to illiteracy if no continuing education is provided. Of the entire population, 2.6 million are basically illiterate and 11.7 million are functionally illiterate.

A child is the sum total of all the inputs from his environment. He is a product of his world.

A child that is raised well by his village will someday raise well his own. Such is the organic nature of culture.

One only needs to intervene to facilitate this process. One only needs to unlock the potential.

Children in rural schools are far from centers of dynamic cultural exchange. But to let them remain marginalized is a way to retard the culture of a country.

The dignity of a people is the sum total of every human potential – unlocked.