Following reports that Filipino students are at the bottom in terms of reading comprehension, math and science, so several senators on Thursday offered various proposals to improve the learning and academic performance of the country's young generation.
For Senator Cynthia Villar, instituting a system of incentives and for public schools might be a way to motivate them to strive to be better.
“Give incentives to top schools and give disincentives to the poor performers so that they will have a wish to excel or challenged to be better,” Villar said in an interview. She also proposed that Department of Education (DepEd) should disband the schools which don't perform well and said a similar reward system should be accorded to “bright students” who can be shown by national exams.
“For bright students, their schools should hold national exams as a kind of measure, then we reward the bright students,” Villar said.
On the other hand, Senator Joel Villanueva said proper nutrition and appropriate learning and play environments as early as pre-school play an important role in the learning and academic performance of a student, and it is for this reason he filed Senate Bill No. 858, which seeks to amend existing laws to strengthen the barangay daycare system.
“This is to give them proper care while their parents go to work. This will ensure proper nutrition and development support, and I hope my proposal will be considered and will contribute to improving not just the academic performance but the overall welfare of underprivileged children” Villanueva said in a statement.
Nutrition is also the key to a student’s academic performance, Senator Francis Pangilinan said. “I believe that this is also the result of hunger among Filipino children, many of whom are underweight, stunting, or even wasting”, Pangilinan said.
The lawmaker said the low ranking of the Philippines in the PISA report is “also rooted in hunger” in Philippines.
“If a child is hungry, how can we expect him/her to study well?” he added.
The senator urged everybody to support the fight against hunger, since it is everyone’s responsibility and not just the government.
“It is the responsibility of everyone -- whether inside or outside of government -- to ensure that there is affordable food for every Filipino. That is the meaning of being food secure,” Pangilinan said.
From: PNA
