As tasked to research on the problems in reading education in the Philippines, I found and chose these three problems, namely: 1) Philippines is a nation of non readers, 2) insufficient structural supports like reading materials and teachers, and 3) malnourished students. These problems were said to be contributing factors, in the long run, to Filipinos in being incompetent workers, locally or globally, and majority of Filipinos to remain below or in the poverty line.
A nation of non readers. I stumbled upon an article about Filipinos, marked by its history, as being storytellers as opposed to being readers. Based on the article "A nation of non readers by Juan Luz" (2007), Filipinos' culture was mainly passed on through word of mouth and not through written works. A survey conducted in 2003 by the Philippine government said that the two main sources of information for Filipinos were from television (62 percent) and radio (57 percent); while a low percentage read newspaper and magazines. Although Filipinos have been regarded as highly literate people, Luz posed a question on how true is it. Literacy is a measure of competence, and reading is a skill. Filipinos in rural or urban areas showed low literacy rate (that might also be overstated because of limited ways of acquiring information), and thus comes with poor reading skill, and then poor learning. Luz also saw poor reading as a reflection of poor language proficiency by public school teachers, may it be in English or Filipino. Despite these challenges faced by the Philippines, government and non-government sectors started acting in improving the level of competency of Filipinos that can help individuals and the nation in becoming competent globally.
When I assessed the article, its information may have come from surveys and test results, but it showed a realistic overview of the Philippine's situation. For me, the main problem in reading education that I garnered in the article is the lack of importance given in reading skill. Filipinos, as provided by history, have been dependent on oral transmission of information. While the habit of reading was not fully honed to its people. And, as evidently pointed out in the article, aside from writing and arithmetic, reading skill is also important in learning because it would affect one's comprehension. Learning is a key factor in being globally competitive, as much as reading skill (and anything that goes with it like language proficiency). Fortunately, some people have already begun taking actions in promoting the importance of forming a reading habit to students. It would be even more better if it will be continued from now onwards.
Lack of structural support. Other articles I read centered on, despite education having the biggest share in the national budget (approximately 15% from the proposed 2013 budget, according to Beltran, J., Alvarez, K., and Sunnex in 2012), the lack of structural support, like teachers, training, classrooms, textbooks and reading materials as a problem in reading education. According to Madge Kho, in the article "Status of Philippine Education System - 2004", students had low scores in High School Readiness Test, and the Philippines ranked low in the International Mathematics and Science Study due to contributing factors, such as national budget, lack of structural support and malnutrition. The lack of structural support was the inadequacy in the number of books,classrooms, school materials, educators, and training of teachers. While there was also a problem in the competency of teachers in the English language where only 10,000 out of 51,000 teachers passed a test in assessing the English language. In another article by Ama Abeberese, Todd J. Kumler, and Leigh L. Linden, they mentioned that the Philippine National Budget for education was spent mostly on staff salaries, and little left for training, textbooks or buildings, and scarce reading resources are common in public primary schools.
With great conviction, I affirm to what the authors in the above two articles had mentioned. Aside from those articles, there are documentary films that would present the condition of the Philippine education like an award winning documentary film by Kara David in I-Witness: Piggy Bank (a story of a boy living in a far-flung area of Eastern Samar who endangers himself in the depth of the sea to earn a penny and fulfill his dream through education)(UNICEF, 2013). Seeing that film, it showed me that poverty does not limit an individual in pursuing education. Government, on the other hand, has a part in making education worthy of each seconds risked by individuals. But knowing that most of the budget are allocated to staff salaries, education will not be enticing to students, especially if there are no classrooms conducive for learning, trained teachers, and books and other reading materials helpful on their process of learning.
Malnourished readers. Lastly, in the same article by Madge Kho, malnutrition of students was seen as a contributing factor in the poor quality education in the Philippines. Children are not learning because of physical deficiencies caused by the lack of food to sustain their health. According to the article, the Education Department together with Social Welfare Department will provide food for families that are in need of it. Malnourished students that are having difficulty in learning were evident as well in studies conducted in developing countries.
Malnourishment, in my opinion, affects children's education in general, not only in reading education, and it is brought about by poverty. Poverty is a hefty topic to be discussed, and still inconclusive on how to be effectively addressed, so I will not focus on that. Malnutrition does not only alter children's learning capabilities but also hinders them from attending school. Some children would rather chose to stay at home and help with their family's financial needs, even at an early age. Fortunately, as cited by Lim (2013), government has been consistently developing programs in creating malnutrition awareness and aiding in need students and their families. Just like the "2013 Nutrition Month Celebration" Program of Department of Education, in partnership with other sectors.
REFERENCES:
Abeberese, A., Kumlerm T., and Linden, L. "Improving Reading Skills by Encouraging Children to Read: A Randomized Evaluation of the Sa Aklat Sisikat Reading Program in the Philippines." Working Paper, Columbia University, February 2013. Retrieved from http://www.povertyactionlab.org /evaluation/enabling-young-readers-primary-school-reading-program-philippines
Beltran, J., Alvarez, K., and Sunnex. (2012, July 24). Aquino submits 2013 budget to congress. Retrieved from http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/local-news/2012/07/24 /aquino-submits-2013-budget-congress-233828
Kho, M. (2004). Status of Philippine Education System -2004. Retrieved from http://bkpinc.org /education-in-the-philippines.html
Lim, D. (2013). 2013 Nutrition month celebration, theme: gutom at malnutrition, sama-sama nating wakasan. Retrieved from http://scoopboy.com/2013-nutrition-month-celebration-theme-gutom-at-malnutrition-sama-sama-nating-wakasan/
Luz, J.M. (2007). A nation of nonreaders. Retrieved from http://pcij.org/stories/a-nation- of-nonreaders/
UNICEF. (2012). Philippine documentary on education wins 2012 Asia-Pacific Child Rights Award. Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/philippines/mediacentre_19774.html#.UbRQMNgSbyo
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