A Reaction Paper on Education Is Not the Hope

ANN MARLITA MONTEJO-AREVALO       DR. RENATO F. DE LEMON
MAED Educational Management                             Professorial Lecturer
September 4, 2010         EM 201

A REACTION PAPER on                                                                                                                  
“Education Is Not The Hope”

The essay, “Education Is Not The Hope,” by Jose Ma. Montelibano is a paradoxical elucidation of education and its impact on a struggling Philippines.

Contrary to received opinion, that education is the hope for a people or a nation to develop, Montelibano explains that education particularly in the Philippines cannot offer hope simply because education itself is in need of hope, and that the need for hope stems from poverty and corruption. Montelibano further asserts that, due to poverty, pupils/students could not even finish basic education; and due to corruption, the government is crippled in providing accessible and quality education for all.

Although Montelibano appropriately identifies poverty and corruption as roots of an ailing Philippine education, I contend that the moral state of corruption owing to self-interest is the chief culprit.

The gap of classrooms in public elementary and high schools, the shortage of qualified teachers, the growing pupil/student population, and the lack of books all lead to poor quality education of the future citizens (and leaders) of the Republic. Such inadequacies further undermine the prospects of contributing to nation-building.

As Isagani R. Cruz puts it: “There is no doubt that there is corruption in our educational system, perhaps not on the scale of the Malacaṅang scams involving ZTE, railroads, fertilizers, and swine, but enough to derail efforts to achieve “Education for All”.”

Conversely, I concur that more years should be added to a student’s education in order to provide more knowledge and more experience. Developed nations of the world adhere to an...