Overextended and underfunded, public schools are at the bottom of the academic ladder.
by Yvonne T. Chua
AT THE Old Balara Elementary School in Quezon City, it is a constant struggle to keep students in class. Were it not for the dedication of teachers, who keep tab of pupils who drop out, and then take every effort to find out why they are not going to school and encourage them to return, many more young people in the slums of Balara would not be able to learn how to read or write.
"Just bring them back," school principal Felisa A. Beran tells her teachers, some of whom have been there for 20 or 30 years. For Balara, a bustling squatter colony located on a piece of government land that lies between the country's most elite schools, the University of the Philippines and the Ateneo, the struggle against school absenteeism is really one against poverty.
Most of Balara's students live in shanties and their parents barely eke out a living. "Walang pamasahe, walang baon. Kawawa ang mga bata, nagugutom sila (They have no money for jeepney fare or to buy food. The poor kids, they're always hungry)," Beran says. But so far, the school, which has about 3,500 pupils, has a zero dropout rate. To encourage the children to continue with their studies, 150 students have been put on a supplementary feeding program. In addition, those who miss class receive remedial lessons after regular school hours at the clinic-cum-faculty lounge or at the corridors.
Since her appointment as principal in August 1999, Beran has tried to make the school more conducive to learning. She repaired the covered walk, installed an exhaust fan at the stuffy canteen, and got a condemned toilet working again. The new shelves at the library still smell of paint. The dilapidated chairs that pupils used when school opened in June are gone—replaced by more than 500 plastic armchairs that Beran persuaded the schools division office to buy in September, and by chairs donated by nearby universities.
In addition, volunteers from Ateneo high school teach pupils science, math and English.
But Beran concedes that some things are hard to fix or can't be fixed at all. And this is where even the most ardent and dedicated of public school educators face a dead end. While neighboring Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore are spending millions to educate their workforce in an effort to compete more aggressively in the global economy, the Philippines is saddled with an educational system hobbled by lack of resources, mismanagement and corruption.
Meanwhile, the country loses out to the competition. Even as Singaporean and Malaysian grade-school students are being initiated to the wonders of information technology, Filipino schoolchildren don't even have textbooks or desks. The disparities are not only regional but also national. A growing gap separates not just the Philippines from its more affluent Southeast Asian neighbors, but also Filipino public school students from their counterparts in private schools. These disparities in education exacerbate the yawning gap that already separates rich and poor in the Philippines, and sentence to a lifetime of poverty millions of Filipino children who have to make do with the crumbs left on the education table.
The dismal state of affairs is evident at the Balara elementary school. Ideally, the school's 26 classrooms should take in less than 2,000 pupils, with half of them going to class in the morning and the other half in the afternoon. Instead, to accommodate all the students, the school holds classes in three four-hour shifts for first to fourth graders and two six-hour shifts for those in the fifth and sixth grades. A new multistory building with more classrooms is out of the question: The school's 200-square-meter lot rests on an aqueduct. Finding a new school site is next to impossible in a district where property prices have skyrocketed in recent years.
The three shifts have resulted in shorter contact time between teachers and pupils. Grade school pupils should be in the classroom at least six hours instead of four. In addition, anywhere from 50 to 80 pupils are packed like sardines in small rooms that are poorly ventilated and covered with roofs that leak when the rains come. With help from parents, the school recently attained a 1:1 textbook-to-pupil ratio. This means that each pupil has one textbook in just one subject when there should have been seven textbooks to a child to cover all the subjects taught in school.
No wonder the school performed badly in the National Elementary Achievement Tests (NEAT). Principal Beran concedes that the combined efforts of the school staff and the support of nearby universities "are not enough to make up for the learning the children lost from Grades 1 to 4." Taken together, two hours of learning given up every school day for four years means the children of Balara had each lost 1,600 hours of schooling.
Given these kinds of conditions, it is not surprising that the gap between public and private schools is widening. The annual achievement tests give an indication of the disparity. In 1998, private schools scored 62.09 in NEAT and 52.10 in the National Secondary Achievement Test (NSAT), against the public schools' 48.96 and 43.36, respectively.
It is wrong to conclude that private schools do better than public schools chiefly because private education is elitist and expensive, says Roberto Borromeo, president of the Fund for Assistance to Private Education (FAPE), an organization that helps in the development of private schools. "Private education," he says, "is not Ateneo, La Salle or Southridge."
In reality, a third of the country's more than 4,000 private elementary and high schools face the same kind of resource problems that burden public schools. Most private schools are small (enrolment of 200 to 500 or less), charge little (annual tuition of P2,500 or less) and are run by Catholic or Protestant missions. They barely survive on tuition, the government subsidy that comes by way of educational service contracting (ESC) or tuition fee supplements, and the support they get from the community and their organizations.
Still, a FAPE study shows that these private schools, many of which take in children who otherwise would have gone to public schools under the ESC, produce better students. Their 1996 NSAT score is 138.08 compared to the public schools' 114.25 in 1996. Why the gap?
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Top 5 Reasons Why Public Schools Are Failing Our Children
What's Wrong with Public Schools?
Unsettling Education Statistics
Students are not faring well on national assessments. The most recent assessments indicate that less than one third of students are proficient in reading, mathematics, science, and History.
More than half of low income students cannot even demonstrate basic knowledge of science, reading, and history.
The stand out of 38 countries on mathematic assessments and in science.
The stand out of 21 countries in combined mathematics and science assessments.
Force-feeding children a public education hasn't accomplished anything. Students can't keep up with the students in other countries, and the average student doesn't even have the most basic proficiency in common school subjects. How can the situation be fixed? By establishing what the problem is, of course.
To start, here are the top 5 reasons why public schools are failing.
People typically assume that what is wrong with the public education system is a lack of funding, but this is not necessarily the case. There are cracks in the foundation that the system is built on, and until these issues are addressed, no amount of funding will fix the problem:
No Accountability
The public education system is very rarely held accountable for the undereducated students it churns out. Schools have the ability to flat out ignore parents and anyone else they do not receive funding from. And if a school is rifled with bad teachers, what happens? Absolutely nothing. The teachers keep their job and the public school stays in business. Nobody wastes time on the concept of customer satisfaction. After all, the customers are merely uneducated kids who won't realize they are getting a raw deal until they enter college or the workforce and find that they can't keep up. Since 1960, the amount spent per pupil has more than tripled after dollars have been adjusted for inflation, yet the education our children are subjected to is not three times better. Why isn't the system being held accountable?
Wasted Funds
Despite higher-than-average per-pupil expenditures, public educated students in the Malaysia are seriously lagging behind public-educated students in other countries. According to the Department of Education, public schools receive an average of $9,969 per pupil-twice the average amount spent per student at private and charter schools. Some areas, like the Certain District, spend in excess of more money per public educated pupil. Where is the money going? Does anybody know-or perhaps more importantly-does anybody care? Those who run schools have no personal risk involvement and no incentive to cut costs or increase revenues. In fact, when a school does poorly or spends all of its money, more often than not that school receives even more funding. Without a dose of public outrage, the funds are almost guaranteed to be wasted.
Political Agendas
Public schools are not required to answer to parents, but they do need to heed the words of politicians and school boards-all of whom have their own political agendas. It would not be an exaggeration to say that these agendas are weakening the entire system. Schools and teachers are frequently forced to deal with supposedly brilliant education plans thought up by state judiciaries, legislatures, and bureaucracies. The taxpayers are then expected to flip the bill to put the plans into motion. For this reason alone, a separation of school and state may be beneficial. By shutting out the interfering politicians and giving the power to the parents and teachers, true accountability may actually come about.
One Size Doesn't Fit All
There is no one size fits all prescription for education, yet that is exactly what most students receive in a public school. Gifted students often take the same classes as students who need extra help. In rural areas, there are very rarely easier courses or other academic options that will allow students to excel. Good teachers aren't given a chance to spread their wings because they are forced to follow the plans that have been laid out before them. And in the end, it is the children and our society that suffers from the one size fits all teaching style.
NCLB
The No Child Left Behind Act was created to 'fix' public schools, but in fact, has done more to damage the system than correct it. Under this law, extreme emphasis is placed on test scores and punitive action. What's worse perhaps is that school districts have been forced to train students for NCLB tests versus offering them the education they deserve. And while the House Education Committee refers to the act as 'unfair', and there is virtually no evidence that NCLB has done anything positive since its inception, the law is up for renewal this fall. Chances are more funding-money that could be used to actually improve the system-will be thrown at the law in a last ditch effort to make it work. But, as history has taught us (or should have taught us), laws should be based on logic versus the amount of funding that can be rustled up.
Unsettling Education Statistics
Students are not faring well on national assessments. The most recent assessments indicate that less than one third of students are proficient in reading, mathematics, science, and History.
More than half of low income students cannot even demonstrate basic knowledge of science, reading, and history.
The stand out of 38 countries on mathematic assessments and in science.
The stand out of 21 countries in combined mathematics and science assessments.
Force-feeding children a public education hasn't accomplished anything. Students can't keep up with the students in other countries, and the average student doesn't even have the most basic proficiency in common school subjects. How can the situation be fixed? By establishing what the problem is, of course.
To start, here are the top 5 reasons why public schools are failing.
People typically assume that what is wrong with the public education system is a lack of funding, but this is not necessarily the case. There are cracks in the foundation that the system is built on, and until these issues are addressed, no amount of funding will fix the problem:
No Accountability
The public education system is very rarely held accountable for the undereducated students it churns out. Schools have the ability to flat out ignore parents and anyone else they do not receive funding from. And if a school is rifled with bad teachers, what happens? Absolutely nothing. The teachers keep their job and the public school stays in business. Nobody wastes time on the concept of customer satisfaction. After all, the customers are merely uneducated kids who won't realize they are getting a raw deal until they enter college or the workforce and find that they can't keep up. Since 1960, the amount spent per pupil has more than tripled after dollars have been adjusted for inflation, yet the education our children are subjected to is not three times better. Why isn't the system being held accountable?
Wasted Funds
Despite higher-than-average per-pupil expenditures, public educated students in the Malaysia are seriously lagging behind public-educated students in other countries. According to the Department of Education, public schools receive an average of $9,969 per pupil-twice the average amount spent per student at private and charter schools. Some areas, like the Certain District, spend in excess of more money per public educated pupil. Where is the money going? Does anybody know-or perhaps more importantly-does anybody care? Those who run schools have no personal risk involvement and no incentive to cut costs or increase revenues. In fact, when a school does poorly or spends all of its money, more often than not that school receives even more funding. Without a dose of public outrage, the funds are almost guaranteed to be wasted.
Political Agendas
Public schools are not required to answer to parents, but they do need to heed the words of politicians and school boards-all of whom have their own political agendas. It would not be an exaggeration to say that these agendas are weakening the entire system. Schools and teachers are frequently forced to deal with supposedly brilliant education plans thought up by state judiciaries, legislatures, and bureaucracies. The taxpayers are then expected to flip the bill to put the plans into motion. For this reason alone, a separation of school and state may be beneficial. By shutting out the interfering politicians and giving the power to the parents and teachers, true accountability may actually come about.
One Size Doesn't Fit All
There is no one size fits all prescription for education, yet that is exactly what most students receive in a public school. Gifted students often take the same classes as students who need extra help. In rural areas, there are very rarely easier courses or other academic options that will allow students to excel. Good teachers aren't given a chance to spread their wings because they are forced to follow the plans that have been laid out before them. And in the end, it is the children and our society that suffers from the one size fits all teaching style.
NCLB
The No Child Left Behind Act was created to 'fix' public schools, but in fact, has done more to damage the system than correct it. Under this law, extreme emphasis is placed on test scores and punitive action. What's worse perhaps is that school districts have been forced to train students for NCLB tests versus offering them the education they deserve. And while the House Education Committee refers to the act as 'unfair', and there is virtually no evidence that NCLB has done anything positive since its inception, the law is up for renewal this fall. Chances are more funding-money that could be used to actually improve the system-will be thrown at the law in a last ditch effort to make it work. But, as history has taught us (or should have taught us), laws should be based on logic versus the amount of funding that can be rustled up.
Things to drive business to success
According to the Wall Street Journal, Warren Buffett does a few other things to drive his business to success that are rare in business:
1. He trusts his people to run the organization, delegating (in his words) “almost to the point of abdication.”
2. He treats his managers well so they choose to work rather than play golf (since most of the managers are financially independent).
3. He doesn’t spend his day going from meeting to meeting (he has extremely few), and he spends most of his days thinking and reading.
4. He doesn’t have a computer in his office.
5. He makes multi-million dollar decisions swiftly (if he can’t understand an investment in 10 minutes, he says he won’t understand it in 10 years).
6. He doesn’t require special reports from his managers.
7. He’ll buy a company, create the deal in 20 minutes, and then leave the management in place with word that they probably won’t hear from him more than once a year.
8. His company operates with only 17 people at headquarters.
1. He trusts his people to run the organization, delegating (in his words) “almost to the point of abdication.”
2. He treats his managers well so they choose to work rather than play golf (since most of the managers are financially independent).
3. He doesn’t spend his day going from meeting to meeting (he has extremely few), and he spends most of his days thinking and reading.
4. He doesn’t have a computer in his office.
5. He makes multi-million dollar decisions swiftly (if he can’t understand an investment in 10 minutes, he says he won’t understand it in 10 years).
6. He doesn’t require special reports from his managers.
7. He’ll buy a company, create the deal in 20 minutes, and then leave the management in place with word that they probably won’t hear from him more than once a year.
8. His company operates with only 17 people at headquarters.
Tips to have for building long-term relationships with the people who can help may it be a business and investments grow or an educational organisation.
You have to be a great leader. It’s something to learn. Never stop learning to be a leader. Nobody can say he is a great leader. You have to desire.You have to strive. You have to improve leadership skills.
There’s a great book called “The Starfish and the Spider,” and it’s a great book on leadership. It’s a very simple read. They’re two different leadership styles. In other words, you cut the spider’s head off, the whole animal dies. You can cut a starfish up in a thousand pieces and get a thousand starfish. That’s the difference. Are you a starship style. Are you not a spider style. It’s a great book on leadership, and be consistent in your own leadership.
There’s a great book called “The Starfish and the Spider,” and it’s a great book on leadership. It’s a very simple read. They’re two different leadership styles. In other words, you cut the spider’s head off, the whole animal dies. You can cut a starfish up in a thousand pieces and get a thousand starfish. That’s the difference. Are you a starship style. Are you not a spider style. It’s a great book on leadership, and be consistent in your own leadership.
Don't Fear Failure
One of the reasons so many people don’t become entrepreneurs is because they’re afraid of failing. They’re afraid of making mistakes. They’re afraid of losing money. But if people can’t overcome these psychological fears, they’d be better off keeping their day jobs.
In the early 1980s, when Robert Kiyosaki, first major business failed, thought he was the stupidest person in the world. Being flat broke and getting calls from creditors made me wish he had never wanted to be an entrepreneur. he even wanted his old job back.
But instead of condemning him for failing, his rich dad gave him one of life’s most important lessons: “You’re fortunate to have failed. You now have the opportunity to learn how to turn bad luck into good luck. If you can do that, you’ll have a life of more and more good luck.”
Here are three key points for turning bad luck into good luck:
Don’t blame. When his rich dad asked him what went wrong, the first thing he did was blame his partners and the economy. He immediately said, “Never blame anyone for your failures.”"But it was their fault,”he replied.Shaking his head, his rich dad said, “If you blame someone else, you’ll never learn from your mistake. If you blame, you give your power away.” Remember, there are no victims–only volunteers. And you volunteered to become an entrepreneur.
Meet new partners. his rich dad said, “In every bad deal, I have always met good people. Some became new partners.” Still hating two of his partners, it was hard for him to understand this statement, yet the took his rich dad’s advice and began sifting through the wreckage.Today, one of his best friends came from that business fiasco. In the ruins of other business failures, he met his current partner in real estate and another partner in his franchise business. If not for the failures, he wouldn’t have met those fellow entrepreneurs and gone on to make millions of dollars with them.
Study your mistakes. “Mistakes are priceless,” his rich dad told him. “Study them, learn and profit from them.”Again, this lesson was hard to hear. Being angry and broke, he wanted to run from his mistakes. But rather than run from his failure, I went back to my factory, studied his mistakes and resurrected the business.
This is how he turned bad luck into good luck. Remember, making mistakes and becoming smarter is the job of an entrepreneur; not making mistakes is the job of an employee.
In the early 1980s, when Robert Kiyosaki, first major business failed, thought he was the stupidest person in the world. Being flat broke and getting calls from creditors made me wish he had never wanted to be an entrepreneur. he even wanted his old job back.
But instead of condemning him for failing, his rich dad gave him one of life’s most important lessons: “You’re fortunate to have failed. You now have the opportunity to learn how to turn bad luck into good luck. If you can do that, you’ll have a life of more and more good luck.”
Here are three key points for turning bad luck into good luck:
Don’t blame. When his rich dad asked him what went wrong, the first thing he did was blame his partners and the economy. He immediately said, “Never blame anyone for your failures.”"But it was their fault,”he replied.Shaking his head, his rich dad said, “If you blame someone else, you’ll never learn from your mistake. If you blame, you give your power away.” Remember, there are no victims–only volunteers. And you volunteered to become an entrepreneur.
Meet new partners. his rich dad said, “In every bad deal, I have always met good people. Some became new partners.” Still hating two of his partners, it was hard for him to understand this statement, yet the took his rich dad’s advice and began sifting through the wreckage.Today, one of his best friends came from that business fiasco. In the ruins of other business failures, he met his current partner in real estate and another partner in his franchise business. If not for the failures, he wouldn’t have met those fellow entrepreneurs and gone on to make millions of dollars with them.
Study your mistakes. “Mistakes are priceless,” his rich dad told him. “Study them, learn and profit from them.”Again, this lesson was hard to hear. Being angry and broke, he wanted to run from his mistakes. But rather than run from his failure, I went back to my factory, studied his mistakes and resurrected the business.
This is how he turned bad luck into good luck. Remember, making mistakes and becoming smarter is the job of an entrepreneur; not making mistakes is the job of an employee.
Leadership: On Making Mistakes
Because we live and work in a society where making mistakes isn’t well-tolerated, it can be difficult to see any value in making mistakes. After all, mistakes often cost us time and money, and in small business both of these resources are at a premium.However, you might be surprised that some of the most prominent leaders in the world value mistakes-a lot. Take a look at what some of these leaders have to say about making mistakes.
Gordon Moore, co-founder, Intel
“One thing a leader does is to remove the stigma of mistakes. People who are afraid of making mistakes all the time just don’t try anything.”
Sam Walton, founder, Walmart
Sam Walton, famous for driving an old beat-up pickup truck to work even when his worth was in the billions, was fond of saying that if you keep expenses down you can afford to make a lot of mistakes!
Robert Kiyosaki, bestselling author, “Rich Dad Poor Dad”
In his book “Business School for People Who Like Helping People,” Kiyosaki recounts how he learned the process of selling: by making mistakes. In the context of sales, Kiyosaki calls it rejection. He and his sales mentor, Charlie Robinson, would make sales calls together. Robinson would say virtually nothing during the visit, but would simply watch Kiyosaki work. Then the two would return to the office and review every mistake Kiyosaki made that caused a rejection. During that time, Kiyosaki even volunteered at a charity organization, making cold calls, so he could increase his rejection rate and learn from them. The message? Make as many mistakes as you can because mistakes are how you learn.
Herb Kelleher, co-founder, Southwest Airlines
When one of Southwest Airline’s property managers made a mistake (he made an oral commitment of $400,000 to the City of Austin for the preliminary design of a new airport when Southwest had no intention of supporting the new airport), Herb Kelleher backed his manager with the money. Although the lesson was hugely expensive, Kelleher didn’t get upset. He just jokingly told the manager: “Now pal, this is a fairly expensive lesson. A $400,000 lesson-I hope you remember it!”
Gordon Moore, co-founder, Intel
“One thing a leader does is to remove the stigma of mistakes. People who are afraid of making mistakes all the time just don’t try anything.”
Sam Walton, founder, Walmart
Sam Walton, famous for driving an old beat-up pickup truck to work even when his worth was in the billions, was fond of saying that if you keep expenses down you can afford to make a lot of mistakes!
Robert Kiyosaki, bestselling author, “Rich Dad Poor Dad”
In his book “Business School for People Who Like Helping People,” Kiyosaki recounts how he learned the process of selling: by making mistakes. In the context of sales, Kiyosaki calls it rejection. He and his sales mentor, Charlie Robinson, would make sales calls together. Robinson would say virtually nothing during the visit, but would simply watch Kiyosaki work. Then the two would return to the office and review every mistake Kiyosaki made that caused a rejection. During that time, Kiyosaki even volunteered at a charity organization, making cold calls, so he could increase his rejection rate and learn from them. The message? Make as many mistakes as you can because mistakes are how you learn.
Herb Kelleher, co-founder, Southwest Airlines
When one of Southwest Airline’s property managers made a mistake (he made an oral commitment of $400,000 to the City of Austin for the preliminary design of a new airport when Southwest had no intention of supporting the new airport), Herb Kelleher backed his manager with the money. Although the lesson was hugely expensive, Kelleher didn’t get upset. He just jokingly told the manager: “Now pal, this is a fairly expensive lesson. A $400,000 lesson-I hope you remember it!”
The best predictor of future success is past behaviour
Identifying and developing key talent is critical to improving business performance both now and in the future.
Bring together over years experience in trusted behavioural assessment techniques together with passionate team brimming with new ideas and a unique approach that includes range of instruments, tests and exercises which fit in seamlessly with clients’ needs. These behavioural techniques are designed and delivered in partnership with those clients will be impactful, effective and memorable.
Bring together over years experience in trusted behavioural assessment techniques together with passionate team brimming with new ideas and a unique approach that includes range of instruments, tests and exercises which fit in seamlessly with clients’ needs. These behavioural techniques are designed and delivered in partnership with those clients will be impactful, effective and memorable.
Leadership Investment
Investment in effective leadership development is essential to any business - particularly now.We believe that when leaders are engaged, energised and totally committed to investing in their own performance, they will deliver sustained and measurable improvement in organisational performance.And in this increasingly uncertain world, it is becoming more important than ever to make this vital investment work and work hard.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)