Fewer and fewer students from public schools get to avail of the quality education that Philippine Science High School promises; why?
Believe it or not, majority of the Filipinos do not know that a school such as Philippine Science High School, which provides quality science-oriented education for free plus additional living allowance[1], exist. And this majority I am referring to are those that belong to the low-income class. Ask a vendor in a wet market or a salesperson inside a mall, and you will see that Manila Science High School and Quezon City Science High School are more popular than Pisay. Or if they ever heard of Pisay, it’s not our prowess in the field of math and sciences that they are familiar with; it is the issue about Fabro’s poisoning. Talk about publicity.
And if parents of public school lads haven’t heard of Pisay, don’t think that their kids know better. My regular commuting gave me enough experience to prove that only a few know about PSHS.
Here’s the usual flow of conversation that I had with those I met on my way home, who happened to become interested with the way I look (either with my glasses or my mustard yellow skirt):
Someone: Ang weird naman ng uniform mo. (Your uniform looks weird.)/ Ang bata mo pa, nagsasalamin ka na. (You are too young to be wearing glasses.) Saan ka nag-aaral? (Where do you study?)
Jo: Sa Philippine Science High School po. (At Philippine Science High School.)
Someone: Saan yun?(Where is that?)
Jo: Sa Agham po… sa Diliman. (In agham road, diliman.)
Someone: Ah! Yung sa likod ng SM North? Magandang school raw yun. (Ah! The one behind SM North? I heard that is a good school.)
Jo: Hindi po, iba po yun. Quezon City Science High School po yun. Sa Philippine Science po ako nag-aaral. (No, the one you are referring to is Quezon City Science High School. That is different. I study at Philippine Science High School.)
Someone: Oo nga. Pareho lang yun. (Those two are the same.)
Jo: Hindi po. (No, sir.)
Someone: Ito talaga binibiro mo ako. Baka yung tinutukoy mong iba yung Manila Science? E sa Maynila yun, di ba? (You are kidding me. Maybe you are talking about Manila Science. That is in Manila.)
Jo: Hindi ko po kayo binibiro… Philippine Science po yung school sa tabi ng pcmc/ ombudsman/ wildlife. (I am not joking. Philippine Science is the school beside PCMC/ the office of the ombudsman/ wildlife.)
Someone: May school ba doon? (Is there a school there?)/ Saan yun? (Where is that?) / *Or, he falls silent because he didn’t understand what I said or he can’t imagine how a school can be constructed beside a zoo*
Jo: *sighs and walks away frustrated*
But seriously, we are not getting in touch with the hundreds of gifted children out there staying in the deteriorating halls of public schools, when those are the children that need the Pisay education the most.
Furthermore, the qualification exams tend to favor those who attended review centers, which, only kids from well-to-do families can afford; thus giving them the edge against public school kids. Which is quite saddening, because the kind of environment these well-to-do kids are exposed to already gives them the advantage versus public school lads. It is already a widely accepted fact that students from private schools have better facilities and have access to the resources needed to fully enrich one’s talents and capabilities, something most of our country’s public schools are deprived of.
And the media adds more to this! Before, informative shows such as Sineskwela and Math-tinik (which may seem cheap for you now, but really, these were a lot of help) were aired on mainstream television, thereby catering to a wide audience. But nowadays, informative shows can only be seen on cable TV. And hardly does public school children have access to the cable. Sad, really… I do think that the leading networks should begin educating our masses, as they used to when children-oriented shows, informative shows, documentaries and debates still occupied primetime slots on air. Moreover, they should stop feeding the public with crappy gag shows and telenovelas that always go overtime, thereby eating away precious airing time for shows that do matter for our brains and consciousness.
I think that the lowering percentage of public school students getting into good high schools (like Philippine Science High School), and even universities (like UP), should alarm the Department of Education. That could mean that they are losing their competence in producing students that can stand the competition; and that their the quality of education that they give their public school students is getting outdated and deteriorating.
And it should concern Pisay too, because the government is cutting our budget saying say we don’t need it anyway, since most people who study in pisay are rich and capable of sustaining themselves. Huh? Unreasonable, you may say, but that is how they think up there.
But more than the budget, it should concern us the most because Philippine Science High School should be in service of the people; and when you say the people, that includes the majority. We should be reaching out to those who are being deprived of what they need: quality education. We should be helping them improve the kind of learning they receive. We should be the prime movers of competence in the country. We are the premier high school, right?
Still wondering why the government keeps on slashing our budget? Or why they say that the investments on us are useless? Maybe, that is because we fail on doing something on our part.
[1] Why did I talked about the living allowance? It is because money is essential for low-income families. Believe me, they can hardly afford the needs posted by a competitive environment such as Pisay. I am referring to the funds being collected, the cost of the materials needed for school projects and the cost of joining the activities conducted in Pisay. Even the prices in the cafeteria can be aggravate them.
