A never-ending story of unapologetic mediocrity

[Lee]

Quote

 

The national preoccupation after the release of the PISA findings was elsewhere. Never mind that education is the only sector mentioned in the Philippine Constitution as a "priority of the state." To many in the halls of power, the Constitution is a mere scrap of paper, not the foundational legal text of the Republic, not a sacred, inviolable document.

On the very next day after the PISA results were reported, tens of thousands of Filipinos were glued to their boob tubes at noontime to celebrate what they considered their cultural milestone: the Dabarkads and the lead trio called TVJ — thanks to a ruling by the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines — were able to sing their signature song "Eat Bulaga" on their noontime show after a legal hold amid a paroxysm of unalloyed joy. Why bother about correctly solving math equations, comprehending age-appropriate text, and solving science questions with ease if there is opportunity to sing "Isang libo, isang tuwa" at noon most days of the week and chant along with the Dabarkads? Concerned citizens have a question: What God-forsaken part of the planet is having intellectual property fights, not over artificial-intelligence intellectual rights or some life-changing breakthroughs, but over ... "Eat Bulaga"?

Heaven for the typical 15-year-old is not dreaming to be like "Oppie." And to what dark corners did the equation-solving genius of J. Robert Oppenheimer take the world? Better "Eat Bulaga" with its wordly offerings, its songs and prizes, and occasional ribaldry. You don't even need active brain tissues to enjoy the company of the jolly, algorithm-agnostic Dabarkads.

The agnosticism over algorithms is among the deeper reasons behind our educational system's failure to get out of the mediocrity trap, as well as its continued stay in a state of perpetual stasis. You employ algorithms to solve problems, to find solutions to complex and profound problems, with change and innovation as the desired outcomes. To break a state of stasis. To get out of a state of rigor mortis.

And if you do that, the first course of action would be to declare a state of crisis in the educational system; push the two chambers of Congress to create a Second Congressional Commission on Education, or Edcom 2; then pass a radical, comprehensive and adequately funded educational reform law based on the recommendations of Edcom 2. To digress, Edcom 1 was the Senate-House bipartisan commission that was convened to study the multiple woes and shortcomings of the educational system during the 8th Congress. The chairman, then-Senate education committee head Edgardo Angara, was fresh off his stint as president of the University of the Philippines and was able to organize a pool of the best and the brightest in the education system to advise and guide Edcom 1. The subsequent educational reform law passed included draconian educational reforms; the creation of the Commission on Higher Education and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority; and the removal from the Education department of two sectors not cogent to education — sports and culture.

But between radical educational reforms and education in a state of perpetual stasis, the powers that be may conveniently opt for stasis. The "whys" is not even hard to answer. Our political and economic overlords find it comforting to have a permanent underclass that can't compute and comprehend and is disdainful of science and anything scientific. One who cannot be defined as a citizen equipped with rudimentary civic values. It is also an act of self-preservation on their part.

The kind of senators we have today, more of characters for circuses and carnivals and clown shows, is a direct offshoot of the dominance of a voting cohort best described in Filipino as the "bobotantes." There are a few serious ones, but many senators do not even function in terms of their mandate, which is to craft good legislation. Some do not even seem to grasp the essence of legislation in the context of a liberal democracy, which the nation is supposed to be. Fair rules, no one is above the law, rule-based order, free markets but with responsibilities and limitations, with tolerance for other views, other voices and other creeds, and human dignity as mandatory features.

It is worse at the local government and congressional district levels, where vote buying is the key to winning.

Mediocrity provides the political overlords with a mantle of protection. A citizenry equipped with discernment and civic virtue will vote out all these clowns and jokers.

The economic overlords need construction workers for their real estate empires, servers for their fast-food chains, baggers and janitors for their boxy malls and all sorts of warm bodies for subhuman, slave-wage jobs. A well-educated, well-informed citizenry will not be proles and peons to this kind of slave-wage engagements.

Only an educational system in a state of stasis or rigor mortis will be favorable to the overlords.

 

https://www.manilatimes.net/2023/12/10/opinion/columns/a-never-ending-story-of-unapologetic-mediocrity/1923547

 

 

[JJReyes]

The Philippines has Eat Bulaga.  The United States has obsession with sports.  Choose your poison.

[Mike J]

4 hours ago, JJReyes said:

The Philippines has Eat Bulaga.  The United States has obsession with sports.  Choose your poison.

I am not familiar with "Eat Bulaga".  Can you give a brief explanation?

[Hestecrefter]

5 hours ago, JJReyes said:

The Philippines has Eat Bulaga.  The United States has obsession with sports.  Choose your poison.

Is EB still being broadcast?  I remember seeing it on TV when I lived here in the 90s.  Even then, it was something of an institution.  

Now that I am here again, I might have to look in, just for old times sake.  

 

[Hestecrefter]

21 minutes ago, Mike J said:

I am not familiar with "Eat Bulaga".  Can you give a brief explanation?

A very brief description would by a Phils TV variety show.  

[Freebie]

Remember watching Wowowee on the TVs of a few short time hotels back in the day.. easy format.. lame games, lamer MC's laughing at their own jokes and talking loudly. and the whole proceedings livened by dancing girls wearing very little. Popcorn TV.

[Lee]

2 hours ago, Freebie said:

Remember watching Wowowee on the TVs of a few short time hotels back in the day

Some might recall a contest that WWW had where some lucky ticket holder would be given (I think) a million pesos.

People queued up for days and when the doors finally did open, several people were trampled to death trying to get in.

[craftbeerlover]

On 12/10/2023 at 4:16 AM, Lee said:

Our political and economic overlords find it comforting to have a permanent underclass that can't compute and comprehend and is disdainful of science and anything scientific. One who cannot be defined as a citizen equipped with rudimentary civic values. It is also an act of self-preservation on their part.

I've said this, although not so eloquently, for many years.   Fn disgusting

[craftbeerlover]

On 12/10/2023 at 4:47 AM, JJReyes said:

The Philippines has Eat Bulaga.  The United States has obsession with sports.  Choose your poison.

The opinion piece really was not about Eat Bulaga at all