Editorial: TURNING POINT
Welcome to the point of no return.
The nation is celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of Dr. Jose Rizal this year, a great Filipino patriot who has never wavered in his principles and lived up to being a true 'pag-asa ng bayan'. His ideas have inspired millions of Filipinos to fight Spanish oppression and tyranny. Yet more than a hundred years have passed but the same social ills that Rizal saw during his time are still very evident in this present era.
Filipinos were deprived of education during Rizal's time. The Spaniards didn't see the need for indios to get educated. Only those who have power, influence and money can go to school.
Today, a total of 28.3 million Rizals are studying this year according to the Department of Education and Commission on Higher Education. Still, there are more than 8 million who are deprived from going to school. However, out of 10 students currently enrolled, only six will finish Grade 6 and only five will enter high school. Of this number, four will only be able to graduate, only two will enter college and one will be able to get a college degree.
Rizal believed that education is an essential tool to solve the country's problems to achieve lasting progress. Yet more than a hundred years have passed, not much has changed. If there's anything that has changed, it is the educational system it is embedded into is in crisis.
This semester, many have opened a new chapter in their lives: from freshmen students who eagerly take on and face the endless challenges and possibilities of their college life to the graduating students who would give their all to get that elusive college diploma.
Many would tell the youth to simply do their duty as students: study and be good. However, Philippine society is plagued by a lot of problems; something must be done about it.
Rizal was a good student, but he was not contented with simply being a student. From the very start, he was observant and aware of what was happening around him. He stood up and questioned authority. He inflamed Filipinos' patriotism and nationalism through his writings. And until the end, he never wavered in his principles and eventually died for it. But this publication is not calling all students to simply die.
However, as Rizal puts it, “one dies only once. And if one does not die well, a good opportunity is lost and will not present itself again.”
The problems we face today are so great that doing it alone would make it hard to effect the change that we seek. There is a need to embed oneself in the daily struggle of the majority of Filipinos living in poverty and injustice. Collective action is needed so that we can challenge and change the status quo.
Now is the time. The turning point is reached. More than ever, the youth is called by the times to do something greater for the country and truly become the hope of the nation and catalysts for genuine change.
The nation is celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of Dr. Jose Rizal this year, a great Filipino patriot who has never wavered in his principles and lived up to being a true 'pag-asa ng bayan'. His ideas have inspired millions of Filipinos to fight Spanish oppression and tyranny. Yet more than a hundred years have passed but the same social ills that Rizal saw during his time are still very evident in this present era.
Filipinos were deprived of education during Rizal's time. The Spaniards didn't see the need for indios to get educated. Only those who have power, influence and money can go to school.
Today, a total of 28.3 million Rizals are studying this year according to the Department of Education and Commission on Higher Education. Still, there are more than 8 million who are deprived from going to school. However, out of 10 students currently enrolled, only six will finish Grade 6 and only five will enter high school. Of this number, four will only be able to graduate, only two will enter college and one will be able to get a college degree.
Rizal believed that education is an essential tool to solve the country's problems to achieve lasting progress. Yet more than a hundred years have passed, not much has changed. If there's anything that has changed, it is the educational system it is embedded into is in crisis.
This semester, many have opened a new chapter in their lives: from freshmen students who eagerly take on and face the endless challenges and possibilities of their college life to the graduating students who would give their all to get that elusive college diploma.
Many would tell the youth to simply do their duty as students: study and be good. However, Philippine society is plagued by a lot of problems; something must be done about it.
Rizal was a good student, but he was not contented with simply being a student. From the very start, he was observant and aware of what was happening around him. He stood up and questioned authority. He inflamed Filipinos' patriotism and nationalism through his writings. And until the end, he never wavered in his principles and eventually died for it. But this publication is not calling all students to simply die.
However, as Rizal puts it, “one dies only once. And if one does not die well, a good opportunity is lost and will not present itself again.”
The problems we face today are so great that doing it alone would make it hard to effect the change that we seek. There is a need to embed oneself in the daily struggle of the majority of Filipinos living in poverty and injustice. Collective action is needed so that we can challenge and change the status quo.
Now is the time. The turning point is reached. More than ever, the youth is called by the times to do something greater for the country and truly become the hope of the nation and catalysts for genuine change.
Posted by The Malolos Academe
on 10:02 AM.
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