Education: a Potent Cure

I. INTRODUCTION “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can you use to change the world” by Nelson Mandela. This quotation somehow proves that education is really the most powerful weapon that each and every one of us can acquire. Education is equated with schooling and a change for the better. It is viewed as a process with children undergo for certain periods in their life span to prepare them for life itself. These views refer to formal education which will equip an individual with the necessary knowledge and information and skills that he can use as an advantage to meet his needs in the future.
In the beginning, the family is the primary source of the individual learning experience. It is the major agency of primitive education and is the place in which, even today, children learn most of their basic skills and acquire life attitudes. It is called the informal education. As he grows older, he learns from other people with whom he lives and plays. As the right time comes, he finally entered into a wider world which is the school. It is where the formal method of teaching and education is implemented. School transmits heritage of the past to the younger generation and train them in various essential skills. It is assumed that in this process, the student’s potentiality will be developed to a point where they can be of the greatest possible service to their country. Equipped with proper knowledge and skills, he is now ready and competent enough to face the real world. Another form of learning in which most of us acquire is thru the church. Moral and spiritual values are thought here. Church mold us to become a better person inside and out and at the same time keeps our faith deeper.
Since all the world’s most prosperous industrial countries have a rather high proportion of educated citizens, it might be assumed that when a country has a high proportion of educated citizens, it is also a prosperous country. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that expansions of schools will necessary produce economic prosperity. The Philippines ranks much higher education than in the income of its people. The National Statistics Office (NSO) revealed that 58 million out of the estimated 67 million Filipinos aged 10 to 64 years old are functionally literate, meaning they can read, write, compute, and comprehend.For instance, the percentage of literacy is practically the same as in Singapore, but the Philippine per capita income is only one-eighth that of Singapore. This only proves that literacy rate is not a basis for the progress of a country.
The modern Philippine educational system is filled with an assortment of problems. Many students are not learning much at all. Most students are graduating with less knowledge and capability than similar students in other industrialized countries. Classroom disruptions are surprisingly common. School violence is rampant, including the many violent incidents we all hear about in the news. Even violence on school buses is a tremendous problem. These educational problems are caused merely by some factors. One of this is the family background of the student. Most of the problem children belong to the families where parents spend most of their time earning decent living. When parents don’t have enough time in giving quality time for their children’s needs and problems, this causes the children to be misguided and juvenile delinquent. Another is the mass media and internet. Wrong way of accessing to media and internet without the guidance of adult, ruins the mind of the young.And lastly, the environmental factor. The convergence of the different cultures sometimes bring about the violent behavior of the students because of culture shocks especially in the poor community.
The right to education is one of the important social and economic right afforded to every citizen in a democratic society. Education in the Philippines nowadays is free especially to public schools. We are fortunate enough compare to other countries especially in Africa. All we have to do is to grab this opportunity and let’s all build our country into a better place to live with. Having the right educational system can eventually transform this society that we belong with. Let’s all build this country into a more progressive one.

II. Progressive
Society
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

FAMILY
(Supportive)
MAN
Civilized

CHURCH
(Organized)
GOVERNMENT
(Descent)
SCHOOL
(Up to date)
A Potent Cure
“EDUCATION”
(System)