Should 5th year high school be mandatory in the Philippines?

[grass]

Should there be an additional year high school? Do you think it's necessary and practical? Why or why not?

[rave]

No. In my opinion, kaya na dapat ituro lahat-lahat during 4 years (I mean, take a look at the science high schools -- they teach everything, the kitchen sink, and more). The 5th year would just put more pressure in parents' finances.

Also, would we like a generation who will enter the professional world a year older than usual? My fellow students in my lab already expressed awe at the possibility of a Filipino to reach PhD by 26.

If an extra amount of time is needed, imo make it optional. Probably, impose a few months or years of "prep school" on a student, only if he fails to enter any university or college.

[KuyaDanny]

I have no opinion on that proposal, but I would like some people to consider taking one year off between high school and college as some kind of a "discovery and maturing" stage. How one spends it is up to him - working, travelling, trying to excel at a sport, taking a short, nonacademic course, or maybe just reading or writing poetry. Maybe that time can help develop more focused and driven college students who have somehow addressed some of the causes of their angst.

Obviously this is not for everyone, but I see some value in it.

[ziggyboy]

I believe an additional year would be good to lift the level of maturity of students. Some Filipinos enter college at the age of 15 which is too young emotionally imho. I have had the chance to study college in DLSU Manila and here in Australia and all I can say is DLSU felt like an extension of high school. Universities there are generally stricter with things like conduct, tardiness, etc...why wouldn't they be? Ang babata ng estudyante. My friends here would laugh at the idea of a "discipline officer" roaming around school. Also, I really felt like the staff and teachers there treated us like kids.

[chineseMALAY]

No. In my opinion, kaya na dapat ituro lahat-lahat during 4 years (I mean, take a look at the science high schools -- they teach everything, the kitchen sink, and more). The 5th year would just put more pressure in parents' finances.

Also, would we like a generation who will enter the professional world a year older than usual? My fellow students in my lab already expressed awe at the possibility of a Filipino to reach PhD by 26.

If an extra amount of time is needed, imo make it optional. Probably, impose a few months or years of "prep school" on a student, only if he fails to enter any university or college.
I think this is a point-of-view of someone who's an achiever student, but in reality, we've got to accept the fact that the secondary education in the Philippines is insufficient (in terms of number of lecture, as well as, laboratory hours), and not every Filipino student is a self-starter.

A high school diploma earned from any Philippine high school is not generally accepted outside the Philippines. (You can't even get into a university in India if you graduated from a Philippine high school!!!) This is solely due to the deficit years of classroom trainings in Philippine high schools. Now, if the Filipinos wish to strive to be an academic powerhouse able to contend in the global race, they need to acknowledge first the fact that longer time spent in formal education is the key to this.

A 16-year old is still "raw" to enter UNIVERSITY in the opinions of the experts. People in the Philippines possibly failed to notice that fact because the Filipinos do not have direct bases of comparison – everyone enters university at about the same young age of 16. But those Filipinos who have gone to a university abroad would discern there's really a need for additional formal classroom trainings before they should enter in a university.

[Stirling]

I believe an additional year would be good to lift the level of maturity of students. Some Filipinos enter college at the age of 15 which is too young emotionally imho. I have had the chance to study college in DLSU Manila and here in Australia and all I can say is DLSU felt like an extension of high school. Universities there are generally stricter with things like conduct, tardiness, etc...why wouldn't they be? Ang babata ng estudyante. My friends here would laugh at the idea of a "discipline officer" roaming around school. Also, I really felt like the staff and teachers there treated us like kids.
That's how you were treated in La Salle? Eww... joke:lol:

It's probably why UP students are adaptable to different school system and can carryout well when they’re studying in prestigious universities abroad.


why is my friend, dexXA banned, and Ultra_Megastar is still very much alive and still very active in bashing UP and other schools??? stupid mods! :splat:

[Stirling]

it should be.

so when thomasians watch the shakey's v-league, they will not carry giant banners proclaiming "WIN OR LOOSE, UST THE BEST!"
Shut up! You don't play fair, A-hole!!! :diablo:

[ziggyboy]

It's probably why UP students are adaptable to different school system and can carryout well when they’re studying in prestigious universities abroad.
5 of my Filipino friends here came from UP (2 UPD, 2 UPLB, 1 UPV). 2 of them transferred as an undergrad, 2 did their masters here, and 1 is currently doing her PhD. However, the point isn't being able to cope with post-graduate studies but undergraduate studies right after high school. I'm not really concerned about _preparation_ since most graduates (be it from UP, DLSU, or any Philippine university) by the time they graduate at 20+ will be mature enough to do post-graduate studies kahit saan mo sila ilagay. Ang sayang lang sa DLSU yung _experience_.

Unfortunately chineseMALAY is corrent, no Philippine high school can enter directly as a freshman in an Aussie university. They have to do either a foundation year or finish at least 1-2 years of college in the Philippines.

[dirt_lap]

Also, would we like a generation who will enter the professional world a year older than usual? My fellow students in my lab already expressed awe at the possibility of a Filipino to reach PhD by 26.




a professor of mine got her PhD at the age of 24.

[dirt_lap]

no Philippine high school (graduate) can enter directly as a freshman in an Aussie university. They have to do either a foundation year or finish at least 1-2 years of college in the Philippines.



same thing happens in the US. my ex girlfriend has to study 2 years in a community college there before she can tranfer to a university. well, that's the better of 2 options. the other one is to take high school again.

imho, a 5th year in high school shouldnt be mandatory. they should only be given to students who are not performing well based on the given academic standards.

[shnicky]

I believe that adding one SY year to basic education would give our students better academic performance. Kung icocompare natin sa ibang bansa isa tayo sa mga countries sa buong mundo na may pinakamaikling basic ed. Kahanay ata natin ng Bangladesh. That is why yung mga ibang mga students coming from the Phils ay pinapagtake up pa ng one year or other courses for catch-up. Curriculum development of our phil educ system should be an ongoing process. Strengthening of school environment, professional development of teachers/admin, more school materials...

But of course, mukhang ideal yan sa Phil. setting at laging patutunguhan nang usapan ay, "walang pera". Sad to say. :(

[Thoma§]

NO. sa private schools, hindi problema. pero sa public high schools (in general--ayokong lahatin), it's a big problem. an additional year means additional classrooms, books, teachers and others. dapat talaga quality ang target.

when i had the chance to make an investigative report regarding this, it's really saddening that a lot of our fourth year public hs students don't even know basic algebra, basic science and basic english (as in kahit basic).

and i agree with shnicky, 'pag walang pera (whether we admit it or not), determines the academic standing. I know this might sound mayabang, pero money buys quality. Having money means having good buildings, hiring good teachers, good facilities, and others. Mahirap talaga ang situation ng ibang public high schools. It's hard to share books with another student (na minsan, hindi pa papasok). And you'll wonder, bakit kaya some of our politicians are super affluent to think that a politician does not really have a big salary and some of them came from poor families, that after a few years, eh biglang yaman.

[rave]

pero money buys quality. Having money means having good buildings, hiring good teachers, good facilities, and others.
And you'll wonder, bakit kaya some of our politicians are super affluent to think that a politician does not really have a big salary and some of them came from poor families, that after a few years, eh biglang yaman.
Exactly. Elected local government officials are assigned a lot of money which is supposed to go to the advancement of their local communities, including the public schools in their area. It would be unfair to say that all politicians don't give their communities their dues (because I personally know one who does), but the fact that some politicians get richer faster than they are supposed to, is quite disturbing.

So again, it really points toward an argument of "quality versus quantity". Extending the tenure of a student will do little, if it will be just more of the same, old, tired system. I see a silver lining, though, in DOST's recent move to expand the PSHS system. There are more campuses now than 10 years ago, which means more slots for more students to get higher quality education. Hopefully the project would get more funding and political attention for it to expand more. And I hear they further beefed up the curriculum.

Though I have to admit, I personally got into a bit of trouble entering my present university because my number of schooling years was "not enough" according to their standards (I had to get all sorts of certifications to be able to proceed), so the argument towards a longer student life does have some validity in this respect.

[apricot_cream]

it should be.

so when thomasians watch the shakey's v-league, they will not carry giant banners proclaiming "WIN OR LOOSE, UST THE BEST!"
sharp tongue, hahaha.

[DJQuimby]

a professor of mine got her PhD at the age of 24.


Wala yang Prof mo kay Doogie Howser, M.D. he got his Phd when he was 12...Hehehehe

[XetraDAX]

I have no opinion on that proposal, but I would like some people to consider taking one year off between high school and college as some kind of a "discovery and maturing" stage. How one spends it is up to him - working, travelling, trying to excel at a sport, taking a short, nonacademic course, or maybe just reading or writing poetry. Maybe that time can help develop more focused and driven college students who have somehow addressed some of the causes of their angst.

Obviously this is not for everyone, but I see some value in it.

i think this is called a "gap year".

anyway, for this 5th year in HS, i say it should be optional. Optional to those who can afford it nga lang. Let exclusive schools offer them, since their students hae all the money to spend. Face it, our basic education system here in the Philippines isn't good compared to the neighboring countries. I think by adding one more year (add to that the TOTAL revision of our ancient curriculum), it will help our students to be more competitive and better prepared for college life.

Anyway, some schools offer Grade 7. Isnt this enough?

[lucent1425]

hindi na dapat yang 5th yr. sa HS, dagdag gastos lang 'yan, kulang na nga tayo sa teachers, dadagdagan pa ng iasang taon.

dapat improve muna ang education system natin, napag-iwanan na tayo sa Asian region, grabe, ka-level na natin ang mga bansa sa Africa.

dapat din na sa elementary ang bigyan pansin kasi foundation ito, dadalhin na ng bata yan sa HS at college.

[KuyaDanny]

i think this is called a "gap year".

Right. And the main benefit (we hope) of this gap year is to give the students more emotional maturity. More mature students will (we hope, again) work to get more out of their schooling, even if no changes to the curriculum were made.

[swimbod21]

5th year for highschool should be mandatory for better preparation in college.

[Thoma§]

sa akin lang, para kasing ang hirap ding gawing "mandatory" 'yung sinasabi ni Kuya Danny na "gap year" lalo na kung lahat ng tao ang goal is to finish college early so that they can get a respectable employment early as well. again, i still think that economics has a big role in all this.

[tianak_me]

Only for entrants to UP. Tumataas na daw masyado yung dropout rate. Private colleges are doing just fine.

[Stirling]

again, i still think that economics has a big role in all this.
what exactly do you mean by that?

[toron]

di na kaylangan.

[Thoma§]

what exactly do you mean by that?
sorry, 'the economy' pala. 'di ko na-edit.

[HARE]

Coming from a good high school experience! YES

[Krayon]

An additional year for elementary - yes
An additional year for highschool - no

This would solve the maturity problem. Hell, it might even solve the poor performance of Filipino students!

[Bazooka_Joe]

i just heard that the administrator of poor USTexchange is a lasallian. that explains.


One big fight!

Yup. 2 admins of USTex are La Sallians. :)
pero kung nagkakamali sa grammar, malamang si atenean planetguy lang 'yun. :naughty:
mahilig s'yang magpanggap at ganun n'ya kamahal ang ust.
Everyday he thinks of the Royal and Pontifical University of Santo Tomas. yahooo!
:D

[prinsesa_ako]

medyo lumalayo na topic a...

i think one of the solutions for this should be that all schools take the nsat or neat. and those schools who performed poorly should be given another year of hs or gs.

i have to agree with one of the posters above. some of the kids from schools with no grade 7 (well most) are just as immature as hell when they get to college. they make us learn nothing because we're supposed to be learning with the majority and whatever crap. but what about us whose teachers actually taught us stuff when we were in hs and gs? are we just supposed to dumben ourselves for the sake of those immature people.. academically and emotionally? hmm.. unfair.

[prinsesa_ako]

i think this is called a "gap year".

anyway, for this 5th year in HS, i say it should be optional. Optional to those who can afford it nga lang. Let exclusive schools offer them, since their students hae all the money to spend. Face it, our basic education system here in the Philippines isn't good compared to the neighboring countries. I think by adding one more year (add to that the TOTAL revision of our ancient curriculum), it will help our students to be more competitive and better prepared for college life.

Anyway, some schools offer Grade 7. Isnt this enough?

most private schools offer grade 7 na.. i think. and even without it, i think they are teaching enough na. the kids in public school need the extended hs more than we do :)

[voltaire_mad]

There are a lot of factors to consider to improve standards of education in the Philippines.

One, it is a given that based on the recent evaluation of teachers in different subjects, majority of the teachers need improvement in their knowledge and training.

Two, the education department recieves miniscule amount of budget from the national government. The department has to streth this budget to finance all the needs of the public school system of the entire country. It is very depressing to see comparisons of budget spending on education in different countries in southeast asia, especially from countries such as japan, korea, singapore, even malaysia, compared to ours.

Three, the very high student to teacher ratio contributes to the declining quality of education. With the current economic situation of many families promting shift of students from private to public schools, and the increasing emmigration of teachers for better economic and living conditions to other countries continues to aggravate the current problem.

Four, studies on nutritional intake of Filipino children reveal that malnutrition contributes significantly to a child's poor performance in school. This is very obvious in families in the lower socioeconomic strata.

There are a lot more present problems which branch out from any of the aforementioned statement. I know that the education department has identified these problems and are trying to address them one by one. Suggestions regarding extension of 1 more school year in elementary or highschool, or probably even both, were met with protests, more from the parents. I read from an article in the newpaper that these parents want their children to finish schooling, particularly college, as early as possible so that they can contribute to the family immediately. What immediately comes to these parents minds are the additional expenses that will be incurred. What they dont realize is the long term effect of the "possible" benefits that school year extension will do to the basic education of these kids. The key is basic education. Performance in college will depend on the basic education that the students obtain from elementary and highschool.

For me, I would suggest a uniform grade 7 in all elementary students, and/or a 5th year in highschool.

[XetraDAX]

most private schools offer grade 7 na.. i think. and even without it, i think they are teaching enough na. the kids in public school need the extended hs more than we do :)


i read before that only around 20 elite private schools are offering grade 7.

[XetraDAX]

and you know what? based from experience, my friends who went through grade 7 are more "mature" talaga. more responsible, eloquent, etc. I guess they were more prepared talaga for HS (and consequently, in college). I study in a university wherein who took grade 7 are in majority, so i would know.

so you see what advantages an extra academic year could do to a person?

[Krayon]

I would also recommend more technical schools like those in Europe i.e. plumbing, carpentry, electricians. The big problem I see with universities right now is that so many of our graduates train in Accountacy or Engineering or even Nursing, way more than the demand for them. That's why when they graduate, they become waiters or janitors. We don't have enough workers in other sectors. If we have science high schools that produces engineers and scientists and doctors, we should have technical high schools as well.

If you want an example of this, look at the educational system of England.

[Krayon]

We don't need it. At Ateneo and Lasalle, even non-high school graduates can buy a tertiary diploma.

Quoted for falsehood and irrelevance.

[tianak_me]

Quoted for falsehood and irrelevance.
In that case, my officemate's a liar. She said she (actually her parents) falsified her high school records (I can only assume she didn't graduate) and bought much of her grades at Ateneo. To be honest, I couldn't believe it myself. The only other people who admitted to something similar were two sl*ts from __s___, but never mind those two. Mga ewan talaga yun mga yun.

That should take care of the falsehood. I still can't understand the irrelevance part. But then, I'm starting to doubt the authenticity of YOUR school records.

[freakster2k1]

i was in a system where a 5th year is required-- I grew up in that final year.

[Krayon]

Irrelevance to the topic (5th year high school). And now that I think about it, my sister said that there're actually speculations about that in her time. That would be a sad thing for Ateneo, having to stoop that low.

Please don't doubt my school records. In another thread I said I graduated from La Immaculada Concepcion School (no-name school in Pasig, but hey, we're big!), Batch 2003. If you want to be sure, look there. I have other distinctions that I won't mention here. :naughty:

[mac_bolan00]

In that case, my officemate's a liar. She said she (actually her parents) falsified her high school records (I can only assume she didn't graduate) and bought much of her grades at Ateneo. To be honest, I couldn't believe it myself. The only other people who admitted to something similar were two sl*ts from __s___, but never mind those two. Mga ewan talaga yun mga yun.

That should take care of the falsehood. I still can't understand the irrelevance part. But then, I'm starting to doubt the authenticity of YOUR school records.
you talking about '_____'? what makes you think she's not a PEXer, you moron?

and crayola, what tyanak's saying is that education (especially private) is first and foremost a business. prep schools want to keep students for as long as they can, as long as those students can pay.

if you're so big about mandatory number of years, aren't you being unfair to talented students, those who can handle college before they're 16?

[tianak_me]

You're right. But we don't need a fifth year, at least not Ateneo. Priests can bugger students as young as 10. :lol:

[sue_mo!]

this seems to be an interesting thread.

[ach_soo]

It'll give dumb rich kids like sue_mo a better chance at passing the UPCAT. Now if they can only avoid being creamed by Aquila Legis members they'll be all set.

[MaFIa_AnImO]

i read from other topics that Atenean sue_mo! is duwag. :lol:

[flsfnoeraekadad]

Maybe, they finish in four, and the last year in preparation for college. Proposition lang.