New views of
school opening

Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.

NINFA R. LEONARDIA Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ Editor CHERYL CRUZ Desk Editor PATRICK PANGILINAN Busines Editor NIDA A. BUENAFE Sports Editor RENE GENOVE Bureau Chief, Dumaguete MAJA P. DELY Advertising Coordinator

CARLOS ANTONIO L. LEONARDIA Administrative Officer

Millions of elementary and high school students will troop to schools all over the country this morning for the start of classes for schoolyear 2012-13. This is a ritual that the country goes through at about this time of every year.

It is also a practice that parents expect and perform every year until the time when their children have gone through the whole gamut of getting an education, and they are ready to strike out on their own.

This year, as in previous ones, education officials are again facing the same problems of lack of classrooms, of teachers, and inadequacy of teaching materials. Somehow, though, the school management and their teachers are able to surmount such major concerns and get through the year, with most of their students ready to move on to the next phase of their education.

But this year offers more challenges both to parents, students and teachers. This is because of the introduction of a new format, which will add two more years to the formal education of those who are starting out. The move aims to make our graduates competitive with those from other parts of the world where all students have to undergo no less than 12 years of formal education. The inadequacy in our present school system, with its set 10 years has been shown to be disadvantageous to our graduates, especially when they try to seek work they believe to be more lucrative abroad. Reports say the Philippines is one of the very few countries where formal schooling takes less than 12 years.

The adoption of the new schedule has drawn protests from some sectors who claim that the added two years will mean more expenses, and less time for the student to be able to start working and helping their families. However, the long-range benefits of the new plan should be viewed for the obvious benefits it will bring to our students, and to our country as a whole, if we want to be at par with the rest of the world community of professionals.*