Filipino students lag in learning by 5 years

[OnMyWay]

2 hours ago, Lee said:

An argument could be made that over the last 130 years the Philippines has simply exchanged one slave owner (the Spanish) for another (the rich).

 

1 hour ago, craftbeerlover said:

This is an excerpt from a paper written many years ago,                   "What about the Filipinos? Fears
were expressed by many Americans
that once the civil service became
completely Filipinized, the undesir-
able Filipino propensity for nepo-
tism, the spoils system and corrupt-
behavior "learned" from the Span.
iards would take over."

I think that Spanish influence has contributed heavily to Philippines culture in mostly negative ways.  The largest one being acceptance, and even encouragement, of corruption at all levels of society.  Spain still has it after hundreds of years.  Very hard to get it out of the system when everyone expects it and lives it.

That post above about the books just floored me, and is so sad.  Almost guaranteed a lot of that money is lining the pockets of the elites.

[Possum]

40 minutes ago, OnMyWay said:

think that Spanish influence has contributed heavily to Philippines culture in mostly negative ways.  The largest one being acceptance, and even encouragement, of corruption at all levels of society.  Spain still has it after hundreds of years.  Very hard to get it out of the system when everyone expects it and lives it.

You may well be right. I found this from a historian at the Library of Congress.

In the view of some historians, the actions of the Church and Spanish colonial authorities during the Spanish colonial period (1521-1898) led to tensions and social upheavals in the Philippines. While some Filipino clergy as well as the Catholic lay population expressed discontent regarding the lack of access to proper religious training, for the Filipino clergy, the lack of religious training also meant the lack of opportunities to rise to positions of power within the Church and subsequently effect changes in their country. However, the Spanish authorities and Catholic officials feared that more education would lead to Filipino independence and loss of the Church’s control over the populace and revenue for the Church and the Spanish Crown. This was the Church’s modus operandi well into the latter half of the 1800s, at which time Filipino intellectuals and clergy grew increasingly critical of Spanish priests and authorities. One such intellectual was José Rizal who wrote the novels “Noli me tángere” (1902 ed.) (Don’t Touch Me) and “El filibusterismo” (Filibustering) (1908 ed.) to highlight the corruption and hypocrisy of the Spanish clergy. His anti-Spanish activism led to his execution in 1896 by the Spanish colonial government, which in turn made him a national hero.

[Guy F.]

3 hours ago, Possum said:

One such intellectual was José Rizal who wrote the novels “Noli me tángere” (1902 ed.) (Don’t Touch Me) and “El filibusterismo” (Filibustering) (1908 ed.) to highlight the corruption and hypocrisy of the Spanish clergy. His anti-Spanish activism led to his execution in 1896 by the Spanish colonial government, which in turn made him a national hero.

“Noli me tángere” Is Latin for "Don't Touch Me." I think Rizal put the title in Latin to make it a message to the Friars. The beginning of that book describes the mistreatment of 2 young boys by church staff, in which I think Rizal did not dare to write all that he wanted to. Nevertheless, I think those 3 words are what got Rizal executed.

[Jack Peterson]

 I think this sort of thing is common here.

 

[Mike J]

One of my neighbors is a math teacher in Cebu City.  She tells me that there is such a shortage of class rooms that students have been divided into two groups.  Each group attends school for 1/2 of the week.   When you include the plethora of school holidays I am thinking these kids are maybe in the classroom 1-2 days a week.   I expect the five year knowledge gap to widen until drastic positive changes take place in the education system here.  

[OnMyWay]

4 hours ago, Mike J said:

One of my neighbors is a math teacher in Cebu City.  She tells me that there is such a shortage of class rooms that students have been divided into two groups.  Each group attends school for 1/2 of the week.   When you include the plethora of school holidays I am thinking these kids are maybe in the classroom 1-2 days a week.   I expect the five year knowledge gap to widen until drastic positive changes take place in the education system here.  

They do the same thing here in Olongapo but they do it by splitting the day into am & pm shifts.  I think am is 0600-1200 and pm 1300-1900.  

[Mike J]

18 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

They do the same thing here in Olongapo but they do it by splitting the day into am & pm shifts.  I think am is 0600-1200 and pm 1300-1900.  

That, in my opinion, makes more sense than splitting the week. 

[craftbeerlover]

On 12/10/2023 at 5:30 AM, scott h said:

That old chestnut? It just an excuse loosers trot out in an attempt to excuse poor performance in all levels. And we know that excuses are like butts, everyone has one and they usually stink. 

Blame every failure upon the colonizers. Hmmmm let see, South Korea was colonized, (brutally) by the Japanese for 50 years, Vietnam by the French, Taiwan by the Japanese, Singapore by the Brits, heck even the US of A was colonized by a bunch of losers at one point (just kidding guys) and they seem to be doing alright. Hell, Japan had nukes dropped on 'em and their infrastructure was bombed back to the stone age. 

“A man in the Philippines is only an individual, he is not a member of a nation.”

"When Rizal wrote this line, he was trying to explain why Filipinos never prospered under the Spanish colonization. Rizal contended that Filipinos were not inherently lazy - their indolence was just brought about by the treatment of the Spaniards (and some Filipino elites unfortunately) towards the natives. I think it was heartbreaking for Rizal to admit that Spain would rather have the Filipinos remain ignorant than be educated. Rizal had always been grateful to his mother country; however, he just could not discount the abuses and the maltreatment of the Spanish towards the Philippines.

Rizal wrote Sobre la indolencia de los filipinos as a five-piece essay for La Solidaridad (just like Filipinas dentro de cien años). Published in 1890, Sobre la indolencia de los filipinos was written as a response to the accusation that Filipinos were lazy who would rather gamble their money than work in the farm. He started the essay by illustrating what the Philippines was like before the Spanish came into the archipelago citing Pigafetta and Morga, among others, who recounted the abundance of the islands and the diplomacy of the natives when trading with the foreigners. Rizal elucidated how the Filipinos were reduced into idiocy when the Spaniards came to conquer the country.

When I was reading the ebook, I couldn't help but grieve for the Philippines. From the Spaniards to the Americans then to the Japanese and then back to the Americans, seems like the Philippines just couldn't take a break. But then I thought, the Philippines had been given a lot of opportunities to break free from oppression - there was the pseudo independence in 1898 when Spain sold the country to the Americans, and then there was the declaration of the Republic of the Philippines in 1946 when the Americans granted the country her long-desired independence.

And then Rizal's words hit me,

“...the native [Filipino] is a creature something more than a monkey but much less than a man, an anthropoid, dull-witted, stupid, timid, dirty, cringing, grinning, ill-clothed, indolent, lazy, brainless, immoral, etc., etc.”

Although these words might not have come from the Filipinos, the Filipinos had already lost her pride and self-esteem because, as Rizal put it, they were already convinced that they could only attain happiness if they throw their dignity outside the window.

When the Philippines was still with Spain, it was already ingrained in her mind that she was nothing but a slave who should serve the Spaniards unless she wants her soul to be burnt in hell. When the Philippines was with America, the same mindset was instilled and ended up worshipping the westerners. Thus, when the Japanese came to conquer the country, instead of fighting full on, a part of her just waited for the return of the American soldiers to save her from the war.

When the World War II was over, the rein to govern the country was finally handed to the Filipinos. Unfortunately, in a vicious twist of fate, majority of the Filipinos had no clue on how to run the republic, thus, it ended up to the hands of the oligarchs whose intentions were for the benefits of the few and not of everyone.

The Filipinos never learned to become one - unless Pacquiao has a boxing match or when a Filipina (mestiza) vies for a Miss Universe crown or when (a) local singer(s) gets viral over the internet and gets invited in an international daytime show.

The Filipinos never learned to support each other because they deem their own productions have lower quality over those that were produced by the foreigners (unless China, I guess).

The Filipinos never learned how to become a nation because a Filipino is just an individual who is not a member of any nation."

[Possum]

10 minutes ago, craftbeerlover said:

The Filipinos never learned to become one - unless Pacquiao has a boxing match or when a Filipina (mestiza) vies for a Miss Universe crown or when (a) local singer(s) gets viral over the internet and gets invited in an international daytime show

The Philippines has a Nobel Prize winner that is ostracized in her own country.

[craftbeerlover]

39 minutes ago, Possum said:

The Philippines has a Nobel Prize winner that is ostracized in her own country.

I know we have beaten this topic to the ground, but I happened to come across this article and decided to add to an already drawn out thread, as it adds so much more weight coming from a Filipino.