Closer (Tegan and Sara)
internship musings: education and the government
Hmmm, it seems I haven’t written much for this “series” because, well I don’t know, maybe I just didn’t feel like writing down my musings, or maybe I deemed most of them unfit for public consumption. Anyway…
Today was our fake graduation because internship will not end until April 30. Also, we still have exams after that. I couldn’t help but compare the UPM graduation with the UPD graduation I attended almost five years ago and well, UPD grad wins hands down, at least for me. It just felt more… academic-ish? Grand? Solemn? I cannot find the most appropriate adjective. Suffice to say, having your graduation ceremonies where you actually spent years studying makes more sense than having it in an auditorium, even if the former means sweating under the hot April sun.
But the lingering thought that I had after the ceremonies was actually about the activists and their protest after the program. As usual their protests were for higher state subsidy, no to budget cut, education being a right, etc.
I agree that education is a human right. Our Constitution also says so. But our Constitution also says that the government is only obliged to give us free education until high school/secondary school. So with this, I’ve always seen my college and post-graduate education as a privilege given to me by the State after proving that I deserve it (in short, after passing exams and qualifying for my degree programs). I’ve never seen it as a right.
Of course I also want a bigger budget for the University, particularly for the PGH but also, I couldn’t help but think that we are not the only ones who need funding. What’s the point of having a well-funded State University if Filipino children will not be able to get into it anyway because they weren’t able to graduate from high school? Or even if they did, they weren’t able to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills to get into an institution for tertiary education or survive in it? My dream for the Philippine educational system is for it to be able to produce high school graduates who do not need to go to college if they don’t want to just so they could get a decent job and earn a living. In short, I dream of a Philippines where the basic education, which the government promised to give to everyone for free as stated in the Constitution, is so good, it equips everyone with the proper skills and knowledge for “the real world.”
The commencement speaker actually emphasized it earlier today during her speech. She said that as amazing as it is to see the University produce excellent graduates who are among the best and the brightest in the country, what we need for this country to move forward is a stronger basic education.
Sayaw sa Bubog (The Jerks)
I think I post a video of this song every year, during the time of the EDSA People Power Anniversary. I don’t mean to be pessimistic; I would just like to remind myself that a lot of work still has to be done. Also, I don’t want people to forget what happened post-EDSA I.
