Confronting mass stupidity

[Lee]

IMO what has caused thus mess?  Apathy, corruption, proliferation of smart phones, poor genetics, the culture of failure that most just accept are at least some of the reasons. 

 

Quote

 

Mass stupidity, as my colleague Tony Lopez called it, is a national security threat. Tony interpreted the results of the 2022 PISA tests released last week in layman’s terms that leave no chance of misinterpretation or any bureaucratic attempt to finesse it.

“Filipino 15-year-olds are among the most stupid teeners on earth. They cannot count beyond the number 20. They cannot read. If they can read at all, they cannot understand what they read. And they don’t know science, the how and why of things.”

That sounds like a very real emergency to me. Unless we are able to quickly not just address it, but gain early improvements in our learning poverty level, the future for our beloved country is very bleak.

Just imagine that most of our young people, the ones expected to boost economic growth, are unable to compete for good paying jobs or even get entry level jobs because they find it difficult to read, write, and count. They will drag the economy down. That means poverty will worsen, there will be more hunger and discontent that will lead to civil unrest.

So, maybe VP/Sec. Sara is right that her job at DepEd involves national security. But not in the traditional way her mind thinks of it as a struggle with the communist rebels. Her mission is to make DepEd immensely more effective so that our people are not made ripe for rebellion because they are too stupid to qualify for jobs that will take them out of poverty.

It is also not right to blame the pandemic. In a speech before the Management Association of the Philippines, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian spoke of an education crisis within an education crisis. By this he meant that even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Philippines by October 2019 had a poverty learning rate of 69.5 percent. With the pandemic and the ensuing school closures, the poverty learning rate had deteriorated to 90.9 percent.

The problem is worse than some may think. Yes, the private school students did better than the public-school students, but not by much. Statistician Peter Cayton tweeted that “the PISA study is really telling us the top 20 percent income bracket of the country is barely as good in math as the bottom 20 percent of Vietnam. In fact, the latter is estimated to be much smarter than average.”

In other words, rich kids outperformed kids from lower income families, but rich or poor, Filipino kids are way below the OECD average. It is mass stupidity, indeed.

Philippine Business for Education observed that “our education is in its worst state that puts us in a humanitarian crisis, and our learners are victims of this war… remaining at the 2022 bottom rankings in reading, math, and science proficiency similar to 2018. The state of education demands immediate attention, collective effort, and a commitment to improvement.

VP/Sec. Sara called the PISA test results an “uncomfortable truth.” At least she feels uncomfortable. That probably means she will work vigorously to fix it. And she has plenty to fix.

GMA News quotes Alex Sucalit Jr., DepEd senior education program specialist and PISA focal person, saying the recent PISA results might have shown that the Philippines is about five to six years behind as compared to other countries with higher scores.

GMA also quoted DepEd Undersecretary for curriculum and teaching Gina Gonong saying that the Philippines will still participate in the next PISA that will be conducted in 2025, but the DepEd is not expecting so much, as the new K-10 curriculum will not yet be fully implemented by then. We may only start being at par with other Southeast Asian countries by 2029 onwards, she said.

There is hope things will start to move for the better. DepEd has now recognized the problem is too big for it to handle alone. They seem to be positive about a suggestion in this column to work with the private sector, particularly the private schools.

DepEd launched last week a framework to decongest public schools and allow public school pupils to get the same quality of education provided in private schools. That’s probably using the voucher system.

Sen. Gatchalian also sponsored what he calls the Aral Bill. It picks up from a suggestion in this column for one-on-one tutorials for the laggards because remedial classes involving up to 40 pupils will not work.

The Senator said his measure aims to provide a national learning intervention program that will be grounded on systematic tutorial sessions. Under the bill, the program will cover essential learning competencies under the K to 12 curriculums, including language, mathematics, and science.

But Dr. Vic Limlingan, an economist active in education reforms, thinks it will still be a problem if the Aral program is lodged with the DepEd. He thinks devolving it to LGUs working through school boards may produce better outcomes. Limlingan explained that the management principle is to place the responsibility on another group so as to allow the present management (DepEd) to continue to focus on their primary responsibility, in this case basic education.

Besides, Dr. Limlingan said, the ARAL program calls for customized programs fitted to the learning levels of laggard students. The program calls for exploration of different learning catch-up programs, there is a need for a free market of ideas rather than a monolithic monopoly. The ARAL program calls for the involvement of the parents and the local governments in the implementation of the program, arguing again for its devolution.

Then Dr. Limlingan proposed that the business taipans get involved by using the educational development expertise of their human resources (HR) departments. HR departments can devise tests to evaluate the learning levels of the children of their employees. The next step would be to develop learning programs that would raise the learning levels in the areas of reading, writing, mathematics, and science.

That’s a good point. Children of employees are likely victims of this learning poverty. Charity can begin at home for the corporates. The success of their program to help the children of their employees would greatly increase morale and earn the gratitude of their employees.

 

Confronting mass stupidity (msn.com)

[JJReyes]

PISA is a standardized test.  It does not measure the ability to think logically.  The poor in India, under their caste system, were believed to lack the ability to learn or be educated beyond a 3rd grade level.  The Mensa Society of India developed a visual test (no written language) to measure intelligence and capacity to learn if certain resources were provided.  The visual test was administered to illiterate children in poor villages.  The two or three showing high potential were then transferred to private schools, tuition paid for by the Mensa Society, and parents were given stipends equal to the pay scale for child labor.  Everything was provided including uniforms and tutors.  These children thrived and many became top students.  

The public education in the Philippines is very low compared to their neighbors due to a lack of resources.  It has nothing to do with the student's ability to learn.  After the Pablo Escobar era, the government transfer the Medellin security budget to education, increasing the amount spent for education by 40%.  Their high school graduates are among the smartest (most educated) students in Central and South America.  I also like Costa Rica who abolished their army and transferred the money to education.  They have one of the most educated populations.  What about the possibility of invasion from one of the neighbors?  The belief was the United States will come to their rescue, so there was no need to spend money for an army.

[Mike J]

The education system here will remain at/near bottom without a large increase in funding and changes to curriculum and teaching methods.  Below is a graph showing spending per student (age 6-15) in relation to PISA scores.  

Source = https://www.teacherph.com/education-budget-financing-philippines/

[MotorSarge]

10 minutes ago, JJReyes said:

What about the possibility of invasion from one of the neighbors?  The belief was the United States will come to their rescue, so there was no need to spend money for an army.

I love my PI family.

But!

The invasion is already there for those folks who don't know it, don't care or pretend it's not.

US Forces are already spread very thin globally due to multiple known & unknown missions.

The endless check writing will end around May/Jul 2024 for global multiple missions.

The US is also being invaded by over 10,000 unvetted migrants weekly!?

 

[BrettGC]

Education does not equal intelligence.  The only stupidity is the education system, not the students who are being failed by it.  

[Lee1154]

IF the education problem was solved tomorrow, what opportunities inside the country would be available to the students?

[hk blues]

3 hours ago, Lee1154 said:

IF the education problem was solved tomorrow, what opportunities inside the country would be available to the students?

I'd imagine a whole range of opportunities would open up in time.  With an educated population the type and volume of overseas investment would increase, as would the type and volume of domestic investment.  Sure, it's a leap of faith but one which surely is well proven by now?  

[Possum]

41 minutes ago, hk blues said:

I'd imagine a whole range of opportunities would open up in time.  With an educated population the type and volume of overseas investment would increase, as would the type and volume of domestic investment.  Sure, it's a leap of faith but one which surely is well proven by now?  

Indeed opportunities would open up. A simple study of development progress over time comparing the Philippines to Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia etc., which have better education systems shows this. Though education isn't the only index it is a major factor.

[craftbeerlover]

3 hours ago, BrettGC said:

Education does not equal intelligence.  The only stupidity is the education system, not the students who are being failed by it.  

Yes and no.   I have seen a severe lack of desire to learn here, a severe apathetic view towards higher education.  It starts with the parents and their parents before them (and all the other reasons we have mentioned many times).   I will refrain from saying a majority, but many students go to school not really giving a shit about a solid education.   Hopefully articles like the few we have posted here will at least start the conversation.   It will take a few generations to fix (IMO)

[hk blues]

11 minutes ago, craftbeerlover said:

Yes and no.   I have seen a severe lack of desire to learn here, a severe apathetic view towards higher education.  It starts with the parents and their parents before them (and all the other reasons we have mentioned many times).   I will refrain from saying a majority, but many students go to school not really giving a shit about a solid education.   Hopefully articles like the few we have posted here will at least start the conversation.   It will take a few generations to fix (IMO)

I'm not saying I agree or disagree with the above, but it's a culture where everyone gets by (just) through the 'handout' system where those who can help do - this includes significant support from family member working overseas.

I've said this before, but in a culture where anyone with a bit of money is expected to share with family members who don't, it's little wonder many make the decision to join the 'taker' group rather then the 'giver.' It makes for a much easier life in some ways.  

It's not an education problem, it's a cultural problem.