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Bridging the Gap
By Michael Alan Hamlin
June 14, 2004
Peter Drucker observes that the
objective of poverty alleviation and other social empowerment programs
too often seems to be to bring a nation's citizenry down to the
lowest common denominator, so that no one feels discriminated against,
or less well off than his or her peers. If fact, the purpose of
these programs - government and non-government alike - naturally
ought to be to raise the majority of citizens to the highest common
denominator. Not with the purpose of eliminating discrimination,
but enhancing the quality of life.
This is an objective that critics
of the Department of Education's bridge program would do well to
take to heart. The bridge program is intended to prepare 6th grade
elementary students in public schools for high school by giving
them a year of remedial study in English, math, and science. Education
secretary Edilberto de Jesus says the program was conceived because
around 90 percent of graduating sixth graders headed for high school
fail the High School Readiness Test (HSRT). The HSRT is administered
to students intending to enter a public high school.
And chances are that if a student
is not prepared for high school, he's not going to graduate. If
he doesn't graduate, he's not going to be able to get anything close
to a decent job. The bridge program was designed to give students
a fighting chance of surviving high school, and moving on to gainful
employment, and perhaps a college or university degree, further
increasing chances for success in life.
Critics, however, argue that the
bridge program discriminates against the poor by increasing the
financial burden on families who are most unlikely to be able to
bear the cost of an additional year of study. As a result, they
say, many of these families will allow their kids to drop out of
school all together. They fear that fewer children, not more, will
enter and survive high school.
For de Jesus and his supporters,
that notion is absurd. Rather than discourage dropping out, he believes
that the bridge program will provide the support students unprepared
for high school will require to get through four additional years
of schooling successfully. The students themselves appear to agree.
According to one independent study, over 60 percent of students
support the program. And, around 75 percent of the students who
scored over the median score on the HSRT support the program. In
other words, they know they need help.
A noisy majority has derailed de
Jesus' plans nevertheless. As a result of the outcry orchestrated
primarily by the Movement for Quality Education (MQE) the program
will no longer be mandatory as originally planned for students who
score less than 30 on the HSRT. Instead, their parents will be encouraged
to have their children enroll in the bridge program. Incidentally,
30 is the median score for last month's HSRT.
Social and financial pressures make
it anyone's guess how many of these children will wind up enrolling
in the program as long as it remains an option. Making it an option
undermines the importance of the program, as well as its urgency.
So despite the odds against graduating, most of the students who
most desperately need help may skip the bridge program only to drop
out long before graduating.
The negative consequences are staggering
to contemplate. First of course is the tragedy associated with hundreds
of thousands of young people doomed never to finish high school.
Unable to properly care for themselves and eventually their families,
these children will be highly susceptible to taking perceived shortcuts
to prosperity, including crime and rebellion. Others are likely
to attempt to escape their misery in drugs, alcohol, and suicide.
Aside from the social and financial
costs associated with unemployment and underemployment, are the
business environment costs. With the Philippines emerging as a global
center of outsourcing business processes, expectations are high
that the nation will prove to be a sustainable, strategic source
of smart, motivated people helping companies all over the world
improve efficiency and productivity.
But with call centers hiring less
than five percent of all applicants and higher value-added sectors
such as software engineering even less, the Philippines desperately
needs to do two things. First, it must improve the quality of education
in order to improve take up rates. That's what the bridge program
is intended to achieve. Then, the Philippines must somehow find
a way despite its dire financial straits to strategically assure
a steady supply of well-educated Philippines to work in global supply
chains.
That won't happen if MQE has its
way. Their path is the path to a lower common denominator. The bridge
program may seem like nasty medicine to some, but it will literally
save lives, and enhance many more.
(Michael Alan Hamlin is the managing
director of consultancy TeamAsia and the author of three books on
Asian economies and companies. His latest book is Marketing Asian
Places, of which he is a co-author (Wiley, 2001), and he is currently
at work on High Visibility: Building Strong Personal Brands in Asia.
Write him at mahamlin@teamasia.com.).
Copyright © 2004 Michael Alan Hamlin. All Rights Reserved.
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