Dear Mom,

Sayang di (na naman) pumasok ang apo mo sa DL. Nung 1st quarter all his grades were 88 and above, pero di umabot sa 90 ang average. Ngayon bukod sa di umabot sa 90, meron din siyang grade na 85, sa Science. I said sayang not because I will die kung di siya ma-honor -- you know I know better than that. Nanghihinayang ako kasi naramdaman ko yung drive nung bata, pero eto nga, na-frustrate.

Yung Science/Science teacher ang ipinunta ko na naman sa school nila few weeks back, kasi nagbigay daw ng quiz, tapos halos lahat sila mababa ang score. Yung iba, bagsak. Nagalit pa daw yung teacher sa kanila, saying talo pa sila ng second section (I don't know how true). When I told the principal about it, she committed a re-test.

Tapos nung kinuha ko nga yung card last Sunday, I learned na lahat ng bata, including those in the Top 10, bumaba ang grades. I asked the adviser kung saan ang tingin nilang problema -- di pa daw nila alam, they will analyze pa daw. Pero siguro daw ito lang yung time na ang mga utak ng mga bata, naglaro. I nearly laughed out loud at the idea. What a flimsy excuse! That's a given -- children will always like playing over studying! Ang gusto kong itanong, so now that you think that's what happened, what do you intend to do about it? Hindi ko tinanong kasi magmumukha akong intrimitida. Actually, tingin ko may ganoon na nga akong image, lalo lang maco-confirm...

Once I went to the school to pay tuition. That was a rare event, kasi usually pinapakisabay ko na lang sa friend ko 'yung bayad. So nagulat ako nung pagkalapit ko dun sa Cashier's Window, nai-type na nung clerk yung last name ko sa computer at nailabas na niya yung record ng apo mo. She knows me! Weird.

So pagbalik ko sa sasakyan, kinuwento ko yun sa asawa ko. Sabi ko ang galing naman nung memory nung clerk, kasi last time na nakita niya ako was last June pa. Sabi sa akin, hindi daw, meron na daw naka-paskil na picture ko sa offices nung school, may warning: "Beware of this woman. Mataray. Mabangis. Mahilig sumulat sa school." Nakalagay daw ang pangalan ko sa ilalim nung picture, kaya daw alam na nung clerk yung last name ko. Eh?

One of my friends confirmed this -- well, hindi naman yung may picture nga ako or something. She's a teacher too (in another school) and meron na silang "roster" ng mga dreaded parents. Kapag may dumating from among those dreaded parents, news travel fast at nalalaman nila. So malamang nga daw ganun ang sa akin. Nge!

So whatever happened to "the school and the parents must work hand in hand to give children the best education possible"? How can I expect them to give my son a good education kung sila mismo ayaw matuto from feedback and criticism? Aaarrrggh.

Ngayon kasi, hindi na ministerial ang education, but income-generation. Negosyo. Maraming teachers naging teachers for the job, not because they want to teach, much less, love to teach. The whole sector is a problem -- DepEd developed a curriculum that's supposed to mold students into citizens who can help the Philippines go global; pero hindi naman ready ang infrastructure -- kulang ang classrooms, kulang or di competent ang teachers, ang textbooks kung pano-pano lang. (In fact some of them read like mere compilations.)

Then, maraming teachers, as I said, incidental. This is not to generalize, but some teachers end up as teachers kasi they took up Educ kasi yun na lang ang course na naiwang available sa kanila. (Sige, go ahead, ask why.) Yung iba namang magagaling, nag-Educ so they can teach abroad, stepping stone lang yung dito. In general, overwhelming o disinteresting na nga yung subject, di pa ginagawan na maibaba sa level ng students or make it interesting. I find myself re-teaching, correcting (!) yung mga mali o incomplete na turo, or supplementing kasi nga superficial ang treatment.

All these considered, totoo nga, intrimitida nga ako. Hay. :P

--Len