Zoilo “Bingo” Dejaresco III I April 27, 2023 l Manila Bulletin
Decades ago, we were privileged to teach (part-time) a few college subjects in Finance in an exclusive school along Mendiola Street, Manila.
The most fun part we recall was the so-called “mock interviews” held by some faculty members with senior students hankering for jobs after graduation.
We remember that we assumed that the students all knew the basics of their majors and, therefore, concentrated our questions on practical queries touching on the areas of ethics, communication and logic.
Today, findings from a study done for the Commission on Human Rights on Philippine education revealed that many of the recent graduates lacked the “soft skills”, among others, like communication, teamwork, and critical thinking, disabling many from finding jobs or the right ones.
It was as if the students, James Deakin remarked, were “trained to go to gunbattle using knives”.
Being neither deaf nor mute, “effective communication” among humans today is a large part of success in any endeavor. We communicate upwards (to superiors), downwards( to staff), and parallel (to peers, and customers). With almost everybody, in fact.
Maybe partly because we have had educational books with errors (in the past, now corrected), we still find many graduates unable to write conciseand compelling letters. And are atrocious in math. It no longer shocked us when international rating bodies placed RP’s current educational system to be among the lowest in the globe.
For instance, in a study released this year (2023), Filipino Grade 5 students were evaluated on their reading proficiency and compared with their counterparts in the ASEAN countries. Horribly, the Philippines with a grade of 288 was only ahead of the lowly country of Laos (275).
We were behind Vietnam (336), Malaysia (319), Myanmar (292), and Cambodia (291). We always thought the Philippines was a country with the majority of people able to speak English- is our English perhaps the “Carabao” type – sounding only like English but with horrendous grammar horrendous and failing syntax?
In the 2019 Trend in International Mathematics and Science Statistics (TIMSS), the Philippines ranked dead last among the 588 nations surveyed. Very alarming indeed. (Is this the reason we kid our countrymen who invent foolish things as “scientists”?)
“Teamwork”, on the other hand, is a basic ingredient in getting things done- anywhere. Failure to do so leads to staff non-cooperation and even work sabotage. We must remember we always work better for those people we like.
But it seems ultra-discipline, compliance, and not questioning the “chain of command” and teachings are the regular norms of the Philippine present-day school. In lieu of logic and independent thinking, memorization is the prevalent mode.
It was likewise found that prevalent among new graduates is the propensity of not getting in the office on time, deficiencies in completing projects per schedule, and in composing strong presentations. Are we miseducating our youth?
Even the Department of Education Oplan Tawid and Alternative Learning and that of TESDA often zero in on mere technical rather than soft skills- churning out “incomplete” graduates into the workplace.
Other virtues found wanting in the CHR study include resilience, creativity, and empathy among new hires. Did the study-from-home or even the hybrid system for those completing their education suffer from a reduced standard of education compared to the face-to-face?
There are indications of that being so. This new method ( due to pandemic limitations) – per one report-sometimes made students passive learners as some of them were allowed to “turn off their microphones and cameras” during sessions.
Allegedly, one did not have the “benefit of instantaneous feedback and correction” prevalent in a face-to-face situation.
According to one observation, this resulted in a “social phobia of students not used to being seen by their classmates and teachers” tackling the subject and issues involved.
This led to their being “desensitized to the discomfort of social living’ which requires all to resolve and get things done always by communicating and interacting with people.
A king-sized job awaits the current stewards at the Department of Education. Both the technical side of education (which has gone to the pits) and the inclusion of relevant subjects to strengthen the “soft skills” of students are in order.
To a layman like us, there are a few priorities we feel are necessary for consideration on the “soft skills” side.
These are subjects on better oral ( presentation, use of body language, voice inflection, persuasive words,, emphatic speaking, eye contact, cohesion) and written “Communication” (clear, concise, and compelling). Likewise “Project Management ( finishing projects through group efforts) and “Critical Thinking” ( questioning premises and thinking out of the box).
Should we, therefore, start to unlearn the current educational system?
The “inferior” products of the current school philosophies and methods are the best arguments for why we should do so with alarmed speed and purposeful redirection.
*** (Bingo Dejaresco, former banker, is a financial consultant and media practitioner and a Life and Media member of Finex. His views here, however, are personal and do not necessarily reflect those of Finex. Dejarescobingo@yahoo.com)