Ophelia S. Lumogda: Finland's educational system

Finland educational system is also very interesting . Their Educational system is called an egalitarian. Just like other countries their education is compulsory and no tuition fees for full time students and above all free meals served to pupils and students. Which some of the public schools in the Philippines has the same practice by giving a kilo of rice to the elementary pupils in the barrio to encourage them to go school and to avoid empty stomach in attending classes.

Private schools are few in Finland. The opening of a private school requires a political decision. Unlike in the Philippine, the DepED is very loose in allowing anybody to open a school as long as they can come up with the requirements.

In terms of their giving academic assessments to the students they rated it numerically .If the student will receive a multiple failing marks they will be asked to repeat. In the Philippines, three failing marks means retention or non promotion to the next year level or sometimes advise to take summer classes.

In Finland, teachers are competent in their respected field. The selection is tough and all teachers need a master’s degree. The government invests and strengthens the professional growth of the teachers, thus teachers are highly respected and appreciated. In our country, the Department of Education allocates a big amount for teachers seminars and training . The Secretary of Education gives fifty thousand to all non performing schools to buy reviewers and materials to aid them increase the annual achievement test conducted by the Deped. And those teachers who are in the non performing school are given trainings and seminars and other incentives to improve the academic rating of the national achievement test.

The Finnish authorities always have seen education as the key to survive and thrive in an increasingly competitive world. All governments, from left to right have respected over the past 4 decades, that economic growth is the primary goal, with education as the critical driver. They further believe that to be competitive, the government should invest in education and research foster innovation and cutting edge development. This belief is comparative to the vision of the Department of Education.

Knowing the educational system of some countries of the world like Finland, China, Japan and Australia, the Philippine Educational system is also competitive.

Sally Aguilar: Finland's Educational System

Dear Professor,

The sharing of Mr. Joel Jayme last January 15 made me learn about the structure of education in Finland and I summarized it here:

Duration of compulsory education: Age of entry: 7 Age of exit: 16. The structure of school system is Basic and the type of school providing this education is comprehensive school. The length of program in years is 9 years from ages 7 to 16. The certificate/diploma awarded is School Leaving Certificate.

General Secondary: Type of school providing this education: General upper secondary education. Length of program in years: 3 Age level from: 16 to 19. Certificate/diploma awarded: (General Upper Secondary School Certificate); (Certificate of Matriculation)

Vocational Secondary: Type of school providing this education: Vocational upper secondary education: Length of program in years: 3 Age level from: 16 to 19. Certificate/diploma awarded: (Vocational Qualification Certificate).

After completing 9-year basic education, students can choose between general upper secondary education and vocational upper secondary education: 1) general upper secondary school provides general education leading to the national Matriculation examination, which gives eligibility to all forms of higher education; 2) vocational upper secondary education may be organized in vocational education institutions or in the form of apprenticeship training. An (initial) Vocational Qualification takes three years to complete and gives eligibility to all forms of higher education. In vocational, further education and training is also possible to obtain. Further Vocational Qualifications and Specialist Vocational Qualifications which can only be taken as competence-based examinations and are mainly intended for employed adults.

The higher education system of Finland is binary. It comprises Universities and Polytechnics. The Finnish higher education system comprises 20 universities and 29 polytechnics. Ten of the universities are multi-faculty universities and ten are specialized institutions. All universities engage in both education and research and have the right to award doctorates. The polytechnics are multi-field institutions of professional higher education. They are specialized in applied research and development. Universities award first cycle university degrees second cycle university degrees and third cycle scientific post-graduate degrees. Polytechnics award first cycle polytechnic degrees and second cycle polytechnic degrees.

I realized that our educational system is quite different from them because, we have only ten years in elementary and high school educational. Theirs are 12 years up and they have middle school or junior high school in preparation for those who will not enroll in college. If they won’t enroll, they have already the knowledge and skill to support their future and a job to fall back to.

Sometimes it is not about the education of a person but the values he has as an individual. There are many cases that an educated person acts like having not gone to school after all. I am talking about some of our coworkers who knew the laws and their authority but they did not use it properly, and all they did were engaging in taking advantage of the ignorance of others. Sometimes they engaged in corruption, not only in the form of money but of the ability of their employees and subordinates.

So maybe our educational system should focused more on the behavioral enrichment of each individual. The values integration which should starts in the family as the basic unit in the society then in the community, then in his country and in the world. The parents should also be given talks or symposium about the kind of children we have at present and let them intervene and interfere because they are their children and they should be aware of what is going on in the society and how to guide their children to the road of wellness and success.

Thanks a lot for another chance to learn about education in Finland.

Sally Aguilar

Sally Aguilar: China's Educational System

Dear Professor,

I learned from Ms Mercy Caronia last January 15, 2011 that the Educational System in China is divided into three categories: basic education, higher education, and adult education. The Compulsory Education Law of China stipulates that each child has nine years of formal education. Basic education in China includes pre-school education, primary education and regular secondary education.

Preschool, or kindergarten, can last up to three years, with children entering as early as age three, until age six, when they typically enter elementary school. The academic year is divided into two semesters.

Secondary education is divided into academic secondary education and specialized/vocational/technical secondary education. Academic secondary education is delivered by academic lower and upper middle schools. Lower middle school graduates wishing to continue their education take a locally administered entrance exam, on the basis of which they will have the option either of continuing in an academic upper middle school or of entering a vocational secondary school. Vocational schools offer programs ranging from two to four years and train medium-level skilled workers, farmers, and managerial and technical personnel. Technical schools typically offer four-years programs to train intermediate technical personnel. “Schools for Skilled Workers” typically train junior middle school graduates for positions requiring production and operation skills. The length of training is typically three year.

Higher education at the undergraduate level includes two-and three-year junior colleges(sometimes also called short-cycle colleges, four-year colleges, and universities offering programs in both academic and vocational subjects. Many colleges and universities also offer graduate programs leading to the master’s or Ph.D. degree.

Chinese higher education at the undergraduate level is divided into three-year and four-year programs. The former is offered not only at short-cycle colleges, but frequently also at four-year colleges and universities. The latter is offered at four-year colleges and universities but do not always lead to the bachelor’s degree.

Myriad higher education opportunities also fall under the general category of adult education. The adult education category overlaps all three of the above categories. Adult primary education includes Workers’ Primary Schools, Peasants’ Primary Schools, and literacy classes. Adult secondary education includes radio/TV specialized secondary schools, specialized secondary school for cadres, specialized secondary schools for staff and workers, specialized secondary schools for peasants, in-service teacher training schools and correspondence specialized secondary schools. Adult higher education includes radio/TV universities, cadre institutes, workers’ colleges, peasant colleges, correspondence colleges, and educational colleges. Most of the above offer both two- and three-year short-cycle curricula; only a few also offer regular undergraduate curricula.

I realized that education really is the key to betterment in any systems and processes and that innovation is the mother of change. Being educated is what matters most because this will make the individual ready to face the world which is full of struggle and challenges that could make that person worthy of being who he is. A person who could decide justly and without bias, a person with self-trust and people-oriented.

Thank you Dr Olga for the activities that made us learn how the Chinese are educated.

Sally Aguilar

Sally Aguilar: Japan's educational system

Dear Professor,

Upon listening to ma’am Mitch Villaceran' sharing ( December 4, 2010), about the educational system of Japan, and how she enjoyed the experience to having an opportunity to explore the country, my interest of knowing this country a little was engrossed. I learned that Japan’s name means "sun-origin", which is why Japan is sometimes referred to as the "Land of the Rising Sun".

I learned from the internet also that the English word of Japan is an exonym. The Japanese names for Japan are Nippon and Nihon. They are both written in Japanese using the kanji 日本. The Japanese name Nippon is used for most official purposes, including on Japanese money, postage stamps, and for many international sporting events. Nihon is a more casual term and the most frequently used in contemporary speech. Japanese people refer to themselves as Nihonjin (日本人?) and to their language as Nihongo (日本語?). Both Nippon and Nihon literally mean "sun's origin" and are often translated as the Land of the Rising Sun. (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Another knowledge I gather is the schooling years in the Japanese education system are segmented along the lines of 6-3-3-4: 6 years of primary or elementary school; 3 years of middle or junior high school; 3 years of high school; and 4 years of university. However, the government has just announced (October 2005, Daily Yomiuri) that it is intending to make changes in the Education Law to allow schools to merge the 6-3 division between elementary and middle schools. The key purpose for this change is to allow elementary and middle schools to pool or share their resources, with special regard to making available specialist teachers of middle schools to elementary schools.

I knew also from the net that compulsory education covers elementary school and junior high school. A break from the past, modern public schools in Japan today are mostly coed (more than 99% of elementary schools). The Japanese school year begins in April and students attend school for three terms except for brief spring and winter breaks and a one month long summer holiday. (http://www.education-in-japan.info/sub1.html)

In Japan, education is compulsory at the elementary and lower secondary levels. Virtually all students progress to the upper secondary level, which is voluntary. Most students attend public schools through the lower secondary level, but private education is popular at the upper secondary and university levels. Japan's education system played a central part in Japan's recovery and rapid economic growth in the decades following the end of World War II.

Now I realized that if only in our country there is unity and support of everybody in whatever program the government will implement; and if only our government officials and leaders would really use all the resources to make the educational system in the Philippines work and effective. We would be as progressive, productive and effective country as Japan. I also realized that change should start in our educational system and in the program of education. Just like in Japan, why is it that their elementary pupils already know how to make gadgets like calculators, radio, and flashlight in their young age? And why is it that our pupils here can not? So maybe, the educational leaders should do some improvement and changes in the educational system in our country and maybe then, we could uplift our educational status in the international rankings. There is one thing to keep in mind here; the Japanese students are not necessarily born far more intelligent than the rest. So , there is still hope for our educational system to be effective and to soar high like theirs. Then we would enjoy the same kinds of success, the test scores would go up and the future of our country would look a whole lot brighter than it does.

Yours,
Sally S. Aguilar
Ph.D-Ed.Mngt. 1

Ophelia S. Lumogda: Australia's educational system

Australia ( /əˈstreɪljə/), officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.N4 Neighbouring countries include Indonesia, East Timor and Papua New Guinea to the north, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia to the northeast and New Zealand to the southeast (www.yahoo.com)

The educational system of Australia which is 12 years in Primary and Secondary Schools remind me of the proposed new curriculum K+12 which means kinder + 12 years basic education on the year 2012.However, the grade or year level of the students in Australia is based on their age hence the students are grouped according to their age not on their mental capacity. The way I look at their education, they are too liberal and loose to their students while Philippine educational system is a little bit stiff, strict to the students for we don’t promote them to the next grade level if they cannot cope up the passing marks set by the school . In short, we fail those who doesn’t deserve . In Australia, they hardly fail students instead they would be put in the special classes to help them cope their academic deficiencies. I am amiable of this idea because I believe that failure is not an option instead we will exhaust all the possibilities to help the students unless it’s already isolated cases wherein that student should be taught a lesson by failing him.

Early as Junior high school they have already the opportunity to enter the work force or in any vocational course and they are only compulsory to stay to ten years and receive a junior certificate but not a high school diploma. The additional two years in high school is very significant because it is their determinant whether they can proceed to college and enroll their chosen course. They will be evaluated by the board of secondary studies and compare to the other schools in terms of their mental abilities. In the Philippines , the DepED encourage everyone to go to school and finish high school and obtain high school diploma and if given a chance take a four year course in college .Thus, free education is a privilege given to every Filipinos as their constitutional right to attain the DepED thrust which is No Child left Behind and realize the vision which is Zero illiteracy in the years to come.

The school year calendar in Australia is different from us because they start classes on January and ends on December but more or less we have the same number of weeks in school breaks.And in terms of the subjects offer in their curriculum it is quite similar to the Philippine Educational system and to mention their subjects Health, Science, Mathematics, Studies of Secondary Environment and Technology, Physical Education, Language other than English ,Arts and English as their Second language..

Australian Education has its own way of classroom management or school discipline and to mention: Each child has a wooden peg with their name on it. Each peg is placed around the green smiley face-this is the positive behavior station. If a classroom rule is broken, the child’s peg is moved to the yellow smiley face ,this is like warning. On the second warning the peg moves to the red face which means things are starting to get serious. The last blue face means a trip to the office to visit the principal..

In our country ,corporal punishment is prohibited, that there is even a law that support it. The school should be a friendly environment wherein learning must be fun. The teacher should act as the second parent of the child and the school as the second home.

I am still on the ground that the Philippine Educational System is not behind to the other countries that we have a better curriculum than the others.However , despite the very good program of the DepED and aid of the government to the Philippine education, why is it that we are still at the bottom and in the third world country? Are we only good in planning but not in executing/


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Ophelia S Lumogda: China vis a vis Philippine Education

China is considered as one of the powerful countries in the world. It’s expansion of commerce and trade makes China globally competitive. Base on the research and report of Ms. Mercy Caronia last January 15, 2011 , China’s literacy rate is superior for it reaches to 92 % and ranks as 81st in the world base in the educational index.

The educational system of China is governed by the government called as Ministry of Education. Their primary language is Mandarin. Like Philippines,Education is compulsory. The government provides primary education for six years, starting at six or seven followed by six years of secondary education for ages 12 to 18.It also created a special fund to improve conditions in China’s basic education years, for new construction ,expansion, and the rebuilding of run down structures of th school. Similarly in our country, a big extraction of budget for the Department of Education for school construction, repair and school facilities.

By 2010, the Government in China aims to attain the level of moderately developed countries. While in the Philippine we aim to attain 100% literate Filipinos by 2015.

Their primary school curriculum is almost similar to RBEC in the Philippine. They too have mathematics, history and geography Physical Education, Music and Arts and of course Chinese Language. Their foreign language is English, while in the Philippine English is not foreign but a second language.

To attain higher literacy rate, China’s government created a scholarship and loan system to help students who could not cover their own living expenses but they studied hard, obeyed the state laws and observed discipline codes. Similarly, in our country, the government has a Study Now Pay Later Program, This project is intended to those students who are academically good but cannot afford to support themselves in college because the income of the parents is not sufficient. This program of the government benefits a lot of Filipino students to pursue their studies in college.

On September 1, 2003,the government in China created a law that supports private educational organizations. It is the first law on Promotion Of Private Education. The rationale behind is, the government believes that the development of private schools means an increase in overall education supply and a change in the traditional pattern of public schools. In the Philippines, the public schools are already partners of the private schools.

It is worthwhile to know that more or less the education in China is comparable to the education in the Philippines.

Linda Saab: The Proposed K+ 12 in the Philippines

Dear Dr. Olga,

I appreciate very much our class discussions in comparative study in educational system . I would like to thank you for discussing K+12 Curriculum. It enhanced my understanding about this hot issue .It’s really a high time to change the curriculum because it has plenty of evidences for it’s curriculum dysfunction . Like the result of National Achievement Test , the jobless Filipinos and the deteriorating of Filipino culture and values. As educators commented about the congested curriculum, inadequate preparation of High School, mismatch to labor and economic market. Mostly, our college graduates don’t have the avenue for jobs. They could not be easily hired abroad because of the age . Graduates in the Philippines are too young compared to the standard of world market. The Basic Education program affect much the human development of Filipino children K+12 years means Kindergarten, 6 years of elementary and 6 years secondary.

Being enrolled in this subject is a beneficial one. I am updated with the current issues as far as DepED is concerned and it’s a great avenue to express my experiences , knowledge and abilities that in one way or the another learning takes place . I would also be continuously learning from others especially to you Dr. Olga. I would like to recognize you effort in uploading the educational videos .The stories really inspired me and made me reflect which I also shared to other School Principals and I believe could change one's perspective knowingly and unknowingly. I know that we will continue to become innovative partners of society in quest for quality education.

God bless you and your family always!


Linda D. Saab
http://ldsaab67blogspotcom.blogspot.com/