"Quality education!"This was Rizal's battle cry which reverberated for over a hundred thirty years ago today. He knew so well that only through the right education can his people be set free from the shackles of poverty and oppression.Quality education was our hero's vision long ago. Now, it is a long overdue aspiration of a people aching to be born to a reality and relevance of education for equal competence and opportunities with other nations of the world.
But what is meant by quality education?It is not merely the rote memorisation of historical dates and facts, scientific theories and mastery of the three R's; rather, it is that kind of education that will help every Filipino to live a life of righteousness and decency,and above all, the knowledge that will help him earn his daily bread,because we cannot preach democracy over a hungry stomach, late Raul Manglapus said.It is that education that will help the Filipino to be productive,self-sufficient,progressive and contribute a fair share in the development of his country and the economic emancipation of his people.Quality education implies an upgrading of educational standards, tantamount to the development of excellence in education as well as in life. It is the main thrust of education at all levels in this country.Its ultimate aim is to provide each Filipino with the opportunity to develop his full potentials for self-actualisation and productivity. It is geared towards the inculcation of desirable social,moral and cultural values from which a strong sense of national pride, discipline and commitment to meaningful and productive participation in society will emerge.
Leaders of higher education should expand access of students from all socio-economic backgrounds to quality institutions. In the large scale,there has to be improvements in the general economy and a better match between professional and technical training and manpower needs.Education will continue to be a must in our country during these changing and troubled times and for the next century.
Education however,is not a one-sided affair that should be monopolised by the mentors; rather,it is a partnership between the government and the school.The school, which is the basis of society, the book in which written the future of the nation, must work towards the cultural,economic and moral uplift of the Filipino youth,and consequently, of the nation.It must coordinate all capacities of the youth to ensure a most effective participation in the shaping of the nation's destiny.The school which is the excellent place for the cultivation of great talents and breadth of views,must keep abreast with time today and thereafter.It must invest all resources,time and prestige in order to make the students well- informed, rounded,conscientious,and become useful and productive part of our human resources.The educators on the other hand,should bear in mind that quality education of the youth for usefulness will assure to him the true art of successful living in a far and fast advancing world. They must keep in mind that poor quality of education will wreck the youth and the nation eventually.
The youth, which is the greatest of this nation's unexplored resources must therefore be taught to be virtuous as of old,rounded and militant and great as of the demand of his time, dignified, industrious,and productive.He must be trained in the arts and crafts suited to his needs.He must be availed of the professional,technical and vocational tools to ensure economic and intellectual stability in the mission of building a strong nation.This way, his potential contribution to his country will be far greater than the most advance technology and the most powerful nuclear energy put together.
What greater gift can we offer the Republic than equip the youth with quality education as his weapon with which to conquer the complexities of the world in the midst of the pandemonium brought about by the man-made pandemic disease designed to devastate our nation connived and conspired by megalomaniacs .kleptomaniacs and historical distorter in the government? Quality education_yesterday, a demand ; today,_a lifebuoy!
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