Simula noong pandemya, kapansin-pansin ang “grade inflation” o ang pagdami ng mga mag-aaral na nagkaroon ng honors at matataas na marka.
Subalit taliwas rito ang naging resulta ng Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2022 rankings na inilabas noong December 2023.
Kulelat ang Pilipinas dahil isa ito sa mga bansang mayroong lowest proficiency pagdating sa reading, mathematics, at science.
Nasa ika-77 puwesto ang Pilipinas out of 81 countries sa buong mundo.
Tila hindi tugma ang mga numero pagdating sa grades at actual performance ng mga mag-aaral na nagkakamit ng honors.
Recently, nag-viral ang post ng isang Facebook user na isang guro ukol sa inconsistency ng high grades ng estudyante sa kanyang actual performance.
Ang post na ito na umabot sa 26.1K shares at 1.8K comments.
Naging ugat ito ng samu’t saring diskusyon at palitan ng opinyon sa social media.
Teacher posts HONOR STUDENT'S poor essay
Ang post ng isang Facebook user noong July 22, 2024 ay umikot sa kuwento ng isang student applicant sa Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Management (BSHM) course.
Isa siyang honor student at mayroong matataas na marka—mula 90 hanggang 94—sa kanyang report card.
Subalit hindi umano nakapag-deliver ang student pagdating sa English essay writing para sa kanyang college application.
Dagdag ng Facebook user, hirap din sa pagbabasa at pag-unawa ng mga simpleng instructions ang applicant—dahilan upang hindi ito matanggap sa paaralan.
Post ng uploader (published as is): “Here is the report card of an applicant to our BSHM course and one of that student’s answer to an essay question.
“The student has stellar grades on the report card, but struggles to string together a simple sentence in English, reads at a snail's pace, and misinterprets even the simplest instructions.
“After getting an email of non-acceptance, the mother called the registrar to complain why her ‘intelligent’ child was not accepted.
“We have seen so much ‘drama’ in our registrar’s office this month, with tears flowing.
“But No, we are standing by our ground. We are a private school after all.”
“Students and parents should realize that grades are not everything, real education is so much more.
“This isn't just an isolated case. Many of them are like this. It's a symptom of a larger issue in our educational system.
“This post is not about blaming teachers or students. It's about hoping to wake everyone to the crisis in our educational system. I think this issue is more important than the price of rice.”
Ginamit din niya ang hashtag na “EducationReformNow”
Kalakip sa post ang larawan umano ng parte ng essay na isinulat ng applicant.
Verbatim na nakasulat dito, “I think to help all student is laptop and cellphone to helpful students because laptop is a good to help student and study of HM, course.”
Puno ng grammatical errors, walang maayos na structure, at tadtad din ng erasures ang essay.
Hindi aakalaing siya ang estudyanteng binigyan ng matataas na marka.
Bunga nito, sunud-sunod na nagsisulputan ang mga tanong tungkol sa mga pamantayan na ginagamit sa pagsusuri ng academic performance sa mga paaralan.
Ayon sa karamihan, ang pangyayaring ito ay hindi lamang nagbigay-pansin sa mga personal na kakulangan, kundi pati na rin sa mga malalaking problema sa sistema ng edukasyon.
Read: These athletes solo represent their countries at Paris Olympics
DIVIDED REACTIONS FROM NETIZENS
Ang sabi sa isang popular na pahayag, “Grades do not measure intelligence, but they do reflect how well we perform in school.”
Bagamat hindi masusukat ng marka ang kakayahan ng isang tao, is pa rin itong matibay na patunay ng pagsisikap at pagpupunyagi sa pag-aaral.
Kaya naman naging iba-iba ang opinyon ng netizens sa isyung ito—marami ang naglabas ng saloobin, may mga nagpahayag ng simpatiya, at may mga nagpakita ng pagkadismaya.
Ang sabi ng isang netizen, “Sad, but true. We have the inflation of latin honors and awardees, but still, ranked low when it comes to comprehension and proficiency according to PISA”
May mga nagkomento ring baka may kinalaman ang favoritism at paggamit ng pera upang “bilhin” ang mga marka.
Sabi ng isa, “This is a product of favoritism, or money involved.”
Dagdag ng isang netizen: “or simply poor quality education. teachers who grade poor performance an ‘average’ score.
“Poor performance must reflect in the report card. But it doesn’t happen in most schools in this country.
“A mediocre output gets high score because the others in the class do not have outputs at all. Touché #AmATeacherToo”
May nagsabi rin ng ganito: “The problem here is grades can be bought. Simple.”
Pagsalungat naman ng isa, “nope. The problem here is with the ‘No child left behind’ policy, teachers don't opt to help their failing students because A. It's extra work on top of their tasks with zero compensation, and B. They have to address and answer WHY the student failed, and if they did everything they can, because if not, their bonuses grow smaller.
“So the short term solution they do is: they pass everyone, so there are no questions asked and their bonuses are in full.
“If they curve the grades so even the failing students pass, even mediocre students get pulled up (like the one pictured). Kaya andaming latin honors per graduation these days.”
Ang isa naman, sinabing ang reyalidad ng buhay sa paaralan ay isang “tabula rasa” o blank slate.
Aniya, “Favoritism exist in the classroom. They call it smart but it's a 'tabula rasa.'"
Sinang-ayunan naman ito ng ilan pang netizens.
Ang isa, sinabing pamigay lamang ang mga awards o honors sa Pilipinas.
Pahayag niya, “that is why Latin Honors in the Philippines are giveaways! #DepEd #CHED”
Ang isa pa, nagpahiwatig na ang tunay na kakayahan ng isang mag-aaral ay makikita lamang sa paglabas niya sa paaralan at hindi lamang sa mga markang nakukuha nito.
Sabi niya, “This is why, if someone keeps bragging about their grades to me now, I'll just reply, "Finish your degree and dive into job interviews. Let's see how far your intelligence takes you." Either they are genuinely intelligent, or it's the other way around – an unprecedented issue in school, favoritism. We can't deny that.”
Ang ilan naman, hindi rin napigilang ikumpara ang mga estudyante noon sa ngayon.
Ayon sa kanila, noon ay talagang masasabing matalino ang mga estudyanteng may awards, sapagkat sariling kakayahan ang pinairal —walang anumang tulong mula sa AI o Articial Intelligence, Google, at Internet.
Sabi ng isa, “Dati ang batang my honors sa time namin masasabing matalino talaga... excellent both in written and verbal ...tapos hindi 95 ang grade ha mka 90 kana mataas na yun hirap n mka 90 noon...tapos ngyon super easy na to have 95+”
Sagot ng isa: “kasi dati you need to read books, dictionary, etc. Wherein today? Isang search lang sa Google copy paste na agad. Dati, sariling understanding mo lang, ngayon may AI na. That's why po.”
Susog naman ng isa pa: “True! nag rerely na lang sa Google at di basahin at intindihin ng mabuti yung na search nila!”
Sa kabila ng kritisismong kinaharap ng estudyante dahil sa post na ito, may ilan ding nagpahayag ng kanilang pagkadismaya dahil sa “insensitive” na “pag-e-expose” sa kanya ng Facebook user sa social media.
Pananaw ng iba, maaaring makaapekto ang mga negatibong komento sa mental health ng estudyante.
Isa pa, bagamat anonymous, maituturing pa rin na “unethical” ang ginawa ng Facebook user dahil isiniwalat niya ang mga dokumentong maituturing na private at confidential.
Sabi ng isang netizen: “If that student saw this post, he or she would recognize that it is his or her work. What do you think the impact would be on that student? As an educator, posting it here won't change anything. You should write directly to DepEd to raise your concern, not post it on social media. This post will not help; rather, it could harm the student in unknown ways. I understand the intention behind posting, but it will not help the student improve. This is a form of humiliation and discrimination. Although the student’s name is not posted, he or she will likely recognize the work, and the effect could be scary and harmful. Posting it here won’t help the student. Additionally, English might not have been part of the student’s track, which could explain the weakness. Although I agree with the quality of education in public school lately in the Philippines is in bad shape but this post is not good. It cause more harm than good. Department of Education”
Sabi naman ng isa pa, “Have you given any thought to the student's feelings on your current publishing of this? Although I understand that you did not identify the student who wrote it, I'm sure they will. I see your point, but consider a million times what would happen to that unfortunate student who was simply trying to get into college. High grades and a large vocabulary are not the only factors that indicate someone's intelligence; there are many others.”
May nagsulat din ng ganito: “Why you publicized a document/school record? Ano kaya mararamdaman ng student? Imagine the psychological repercussions of this post. Kahit na it is anonymous, I find it unethical na the parent and student trusted their documents to your institution and you posted in online. This is the same woman who patented the traditional dish of Antique. So rich coming from you. Kaya I doubt genuine intention ito. Also, fix your school’s system first because I once checked some outputs of your students. Needs a lot of fixing. Enjoy your 10 mins of fame.”
Pahayag ng isa pa, “I'm also in this same school, and I have to say - this is just so wrong. The way they exposed that student over their essay, even with their good grades, was completely messed up. It's painful to see something like that happen…”
Gayundin, may mga netizens na nagmungkahing sana’y hindi lamang wikang Ingles ang ginawang batayan para masukat ang kakayahan ng mag-aaral.
Maaari kasing hindi ito kagalingan sa nasabing wika, subalit mahusay sa iba pang subjects.
Ang sabi ng isa pa, “Totoo Naman, meron talagang ganun na students. But we have to think din na Hindi lang Jan pomupokos Ang acads, Malay natin magaling sya mag memorize and malalaki exam score nya or baka Naman, active sya Lagi pagdating sa oral recitation heheh.”
Tungkol din sa English ang comment ng user na ito: “Hindi ko naman jinijustify ang main issue ng Education system in Philippines pero diba unfair naman siguro if you only measure intelligence based sa hindi sya fluent in English or hirap makapag construct ng sentence in English? Nakaka sad lang, dahil hanggang ngayon. English Language ang basis nyo sa katalinohan where in fact may each Multiple intelligence ang isang tao.”
Anuman ang naging opinyon ng mga netizens, dalawang punto ang malinaw.
Una, hindi sukatan ang grado sa kakayahan ng isang tao.
Pangalawa, kailangang pagtuunan ito ng pansin ng mga nasa education sectors. Ang mainam siyempre ay mas pag-igtingin para masigurong may natututunan ang mga estudyante.