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Bacolod City, Philippines Tuesday, June 5, 2012
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TIGHT ROPE
WITH MODESTO P. SA-ONOY

Colleges’ performance

TIGHT ROPE
WITH MODESTO P. SA-ONOY

There is a myth that the higher the tuition the better the education. This myth has been used by high class schools to justify their pricey tuition and oftentimes unreasonable charges that have made parents, enticed by the myth, taking out scandalously onerous loans.

My experience through these years, as well as my own schooling, proves this myth false and many contests have shown that graduates and students of high end educational institutions lagged behind those in smaller or less costly schools.

There is no question that many expensive schools have also made high marks for their students – what else are we to expect considering their facilities, well-paid faculty and family status that allow them to have out of school, informal education, like tutors and availability of reading materials and videos?

But the point simply is that the myth of high tuition equals better education is what it really is – a myth. On the other hand, a less endowed school is expected to produce less remarkable student – also a myth.

Admittedly the availability of excellent teachers and facilities help tremendously in the education and training of the youth to excel but there is one vital ingredient that impulses the students, either in low cost or high priced schools to perform exceedingly well – the motivation of the students.

No school can motivate more than the students personally. No prodding or inducements can make a student learn, including threats of punishment or censure. Every teacher knows that.

This is the dividing line between high performance, either in school or in a job, and poor or good results that spell the difference.

The high performance of the Bacolod City College during the March 11, 2012 Licensure Examination for Teachers is a revelation, though not surprising. The college performance rating exceeded that of the other colleges in the province offering education courses.

I just got a copy of the comparative performance of the examinees from the colleges of education.

The national passing rate is 42.46 percent for the elementary and 24.85 percent for the secondary level. The comparison is based on the number of examinees from each college, so that is highly possible that a college might have a low passing rate because of its large number of examinees. The passing rate might have been spread out.

In Elementary Level, the Bacolod City College passing rate is 87.50 (compared to the national rate of 42.46 percent). Carlos Hilado Memorial State College (Talisay) follows with 85.07 and thirdly by the University of St. La Salle with 83.33 percent, University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos with 80 percent, CHMMSC (Binalbagan) with 75 percent, West Visayas State University (Himamaylan) with 72.22 percent and Negros State College of Agriculture with 69.70.

Other ratings are La Carlota City College (69.23 percent), Philippine Normal University-Cadiz (66.67 percent), Colegio de San Agustin-Bacolod (66.67 percent), Cabarus Catholic College-Sipalay (62.50 percent), Bago City College (62.39 percent), La Consolacion College-Bacolod (61.54 percent), Fellowship Baptist College-Kabankalan (57.14 percent), Mt. Carmel College-Escalante (54.55 percent), Binalbagan Catholic College (53.09 percent), Kabankalan Catholic College (49.25 percent), West Negros University-Bacolod (47.06 percent), Central Philippines Adventist College (40.00 percent), Colegio de Santa Rita-San Carlos (30 percent) and Central Negros College-San Carlos (29.25 percent).

In the secondary LET level, USLS and West Visayas University-Himamaylan lead the top performers with 75 percent passing rate followed by Colegio de San Agustin-Bacolod (52 percent), Central Philippine Adventist College (44.44 percent) and Bacolod City College (40 percent). National average is 24.85%

The passing rates of the rest of the Occidental Negros tertiary schools are Carlos Hilado Memorial State College-Talisay (39.47) and Philippine Normal University-Cadiz (39.13 percent). La Carlota City College Central Negros College-San Carlos and Colegio de Santa Rita College had the same passing rate at (33.33 percent).

Other ratings are UNO-R (29.73 percent), Fellowship Baptist College-Kabankalan (25 percent), Negros State College of Agriculture (23.44), West Negros University (22 percent), Bago City College (20.90 percent), Mt. Carmel College-Escalante (20.83 percent), La Consolacion College-Bacolod (18.18 percent), Cabarus Catholic College-Sipalay (14.29), Kabankalan Catholic College (13.33 percent), Carlos Hilado Memorial State College-Binalbagan (13.04) and Binalbagan Catholic College (9.68 percent).

This is just one result; the ranking can change from year to year but this shows that parents need not send their children to expensive schools or to Bácolod. The college nearby can be as good as those in Bácolod.

I do not wish to downgrade any school. Surely they all work towards getting their colleges higher ranking. The simple fact is that the student, in whatever school, is the primary reason for performance.

Bácolod City College is the least expensive at P30 per unit in tuition. A college student here pays P1,272 per semester in tuition and other fees. Because of its low fees and good performance it attracts many students, but it rejected this semester about 2,000 applicants for lack of classrooms.

Mayor Bing Leonardia promised not to increase tuition while he is mayor but plans to construct more classrooms. This plan must be implemented now. BCC proves it is worth investing in.*

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