Redoble Family

I have always good memories of my elementary education.  I had a big school, wide play ground, high caliber teachers (which includes my mother, Grade 1, section 3, class 1967!  And, oh, my Grade 3 teacher, Mrs. Felicidad Mariano, my favorite, since I was top of her class then, 1969, died last week at the age of 92 years old), many academic activities, extra-curricular activities, among others .. and we were just 25 or so in a classroom.  Those were our elementary years!  Bygone years!

Elementary education today, especially in the Urban Areas, is a hapless situation!  I see elementary schools in the urban areas with so many students, and yet, too few classrooms.  Sometimes a class holds 80 students!  No space to walk; no bench to write; no place to to sit!  The teacher comes in motivated but somehow, ends the day more stressed out than satisfied of her day.  And for the students: those who love to learn despite the situation will learn more. Others will surely end up as  half-baked students, hearing much and learning too little!

I am surprised and happy today to know that barangay schools are not that crowded .. and thereby, give hope to a well rounded educational formation to our barangay children.  I celebrated mass, this morning, at one of the three barangay elementary schools of this Parish, St. Francis Xavier, and it was refreshing to know that there is an average of 20 students per classroom .. the children are serene .. my psych background sensed that .. the teachers are relaxed!  What a treasure in a far flung barangay!  They may lack the perks and privileges of an urban school .. but, they have the right conditions to learn well .. to study well, and to be formed well.

There is hope!  After all, I, too, came from a rural elementary school .. so were my siblings .. friends .. classmates .. and they’re successful in their given fields, here in our country and abroad.  There is still hope for our children.  The future of this country depends on how much this government invests on the Education of the Youth.  Forming good and high caliber teachers .. building more schools in every barangay .. more so, in the urban settings .. will bring about a re-generation of our youth.  I, and surely those of my generation, will not say we were a “class apart” .. because we want our children .. and grand children, to experience what we had experienced during our basic education formation.

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