Educational system of Japan...* Joel L. Jayme

Dear Professor Olga,

Greetings of Peace!

When Ms. Mitchel M. Villaceran shared to us about the Educational System of Japan, I learned Japan government adopted the US model for their educational system and they adopted also the France model for centralized administration system and the school district system. In the year 1990 the government of Japan decided to abolish the school fees for elementary education and a system of automatic progression was adopted. They applied the 6-3-3-4 educational pattern, Grades 1 to 6 for elementary education with 4 science subjects namely; biology, chemistry, physics, and geology. As what I have observed their elementary pupils are very much advance in terms of scientific theories and actual hands on of the technological activities not like in the Philippines that the normal curriculum for elementary has less subject taught in science even Grades 1 and 2 in our country has no science subject. For their high school education, they offer 3 years for Junior High School, and 3 years for Senior High School.

From the insights I gained about the educational system of Japan, I realized that their curriculum is focused on science and technology that is why their learners are much advance in terms of scientific theories and concepts. If we compare the curriculum of our country to that of Japan all I can say is we are very far behind their system.

Therefore, as a school administrator we have to encourage our teachers and pupils to engage in and adopt the new trend and the use of technology by conducting research on the net in order to cope up with the advance technology globally.


* Joel L. Jayme

K + 12 .. by Joel Jayme

Dear Professor,

Greetings of Peace!

Last Saturday when I heard and learned about the Enhanced K + 12 Basic Education Program, I realized that the goal of the Enhanced K+12 Basic Education Program is to create a functional basic education system that will produce productive and responsible citizens equipped with the essential competencies and skills for both life-long learning and employment. The program will enhance the basic education system to full functionality to fulfill the basic learning needs of students. This is in line with the agenda of the President Aquino of having quality education as a long-term solution to poverty. In order to achieve these goals, the program has the following twin-objectives:

a) To give every student an opportunity to receive quality education based on an enhanced and decongested curriculum that is internationally recognized and comparable

b) To change public perception that high school education is just a preparation for college; rather, it should allow one to take advantage of opportunities for gainful career or employment and/or self-employment in a rapidly changing and increasingly globalized environment.

Enhancing the quality of basic education in the Philippines is urgent and critical. Thus, we have to come up with a proposal to enhance our basic education program in a manner that is least disruptive to the current curriculum, most affordable to government and families, and aligned with international practice. 2 The poor quality of basic education is reflected in the low achievement scores of Filipino students. Many students who finish basic education do not possess sufficient mastery of basic competencies. One reason is that students do not get adequate instructional time or time on task. The National Achievement Test (NAT) for grade 6 in SY 2009-2010 passing rate is only 69.21%. Although this is already a 24% improvement over the SY 2005-2006 passing rate, further reforms are needed to achieve substantial improvement. The NAT for high school is 46.38% in SY 2009-2010, a slight decrease from 47.40% in SY 2008-2009. 3 International tests results like 2003 TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) rank the Philippines 34th out of 38 countries in HS II Math and 43rd out of 46 countries in HS II Science; for grade 4, the Philippines ranked 23rd out of 25 participating countries in both Math and Science In 2008, even with only the science high schools participating in the Advanced Mathematics category, the Philippines was ranked lowest.

Therefore as a School Administrator, I am in favor of the additional 2 years of elementary and high school in order to cope up the demand of time. We are the only country who implements 1o year elementary and secondary education. If we will compare the graduates from the different countries we are much behind compared to their graduates. It is a high time to apply the enhanced K+12 basic education in our country to address the problem on quality education.

UNITED KINGDOM EDUCATION SYSTEM (by Bernadette Calvo)

Dear Professor,

Good day doc!

When you let us pick the country that we are going to study for its educational system, immediately I look for the United Kingdom. I chose UK because I wanted to know the kind of education system that they have considering that there are 4 countries that comprise this big nation. How they were able to successfully implement plans considering the fame in education that they are enjoying right now, the astounding buildings and the vast universities that are too high.
Education in UK has the same patterned with the other countries. As I look at its structure, it’s almost the same with others, if there is, only minute thing. I view this as physical only but as to the implementation and the other factors to consider I have not included.

UK’s primary education is 6 years from the combined junior and infant schools 2 years in infant school and 4 years in junior school. This is the first stage of children’s schooling. Secondary education covers schooling from the age of eleven to the minimum school leaving age of sixteen. Students follow a common curriculum leading to the GCSE and VCSE. They may combine a number of GCSEs, VCSEs or a combination of both. At some schools, pupils may stay on at a school sixth form for a further two years when they sit for the General Certificate of Education Advanced Level (GCE A Levels) or the General Certificate of Education Advanced Subsidiary examinations (GCE AS examinations), or vocational courses leading usually to a Vocational Certificate of Education Advanced Level/Vocational Certificate of Education Advanced Subsidiary Level). Further education colleges also offer these courses.

Higher education is provided by three main types of institutions: universities, colleges and institutions of higher education and art and music colleges. All universities are autonomous institutions, particularly in matters relating to courses. They are empowered by a Royal Charter or an Act of Parliament. As a result of the Further and Higher Education Act of 1992, the binary line separating universities and polytechnics was abolished and polytechnics were given university status and took university titles. Unlike the Philippines, not all universities are autonomous. They still need to pass some accreditations in order to get the highest level which is the autonomous level. The UK universities also offer second stage of higher education the Master’s Degree and Master of Philosophy and its third stage is the study of Doctor of Philosophy and the Higher Doctorate. We can see that UK’s higher education is being strengthened. Philippines also offer postgraduate education but its only Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy. The students choose their own program or major.

UK also tightened their teacher qualification before teaching. A teacher applicant must undergo trainings and post graduate studies before one is hired.
I realized that there is no so much difference in the structure between UK and Philippine education but when you look at the outcome we are (Philippines) far beyond compare. We are 50 years beyond behind from them. Perhaps because they have money and we don’t have. Our budget for education is meager plus it is not well address, corruption is rampant, needs are not met. If only Philippines has disciplined leaders I doubt if we will not achieve first class education. Money is secondary. What is the most important are the personnel who can carry out the goal with iron hands not with vested interest. Our country needs realignment of each goal to one common goal towards quality education and it must start first from the right hiring of new teachers. It must start from the simplest thing to the complicated ones. Secretary Quisombing once said that “the education of the heart is the heart of education”. I hope that the new program “K+12” will give impact to our present education today and not just remains an unimplemented program.

So help us God!

FINLAND EDUCATION SYSTEM (by Bernadette Calvo)

Good day Doc!

I learned that pre-school education in Finland is intended for six-year-olds, who will start their compulsory education in the following year. This is not the same with the Philippine education because here pupils start to come to school as early as 2 years old, toddler, then nursery, kinder 1 and kinder 2 then start the elmentary- the basic education.

In Finland participation in pre-school education is voluntary, and it is provided in day care centres and in pre-school classes operating in connection with comprehensive schools. The same with the Philippine education system, children also come to day care centers provided by DSWD voluntarily. There are also public schools who cater universal kindergarten.

In Finland, pre-school education means the systematic education and instruction provided in a day care center (kindergarten) or a comprehensive school in the year preceding the beginning of school.
Subject fields are: language and interaction, mathematics, ethics and philosophy, environmental and natural studies, health, physical and motor development and art and culture.

Basic education is intended for children from seven to sixteen years of age, and its completion in comprehensive school takes nine years. All children permanently resident in Finland are subject to compulsory education for a period of ten years starting in the year of their seventh birthday. Basic education is general education provided free of charge for entire age groups. Basic education is governed by the Basic Education Act of 1998. Here in the Philippines, basic education is governed by R.A. 9155.The broad national objectives and the allocation of time to the instruction in different subjects and subject groups and to childrens counselling are decided by the Government. The National Board of Education decides on the objectives and core contents of instruction by confirming the core curriculum. Based on these, each provider of education prepares the local curriculum. The network of comprehensive schools covers the entire country. For school journeys exceeding five kilometres, transportation is provided free of charge. The Philippine does not provide free transportation to chilren no matter how far the school is.

The basic education syllabus includes at least the following subjects: mother tongue and literature (Finnish or Swedish), the other national language (Swedish or Finnish), foreign languages, environmental studies, civics, religion or ethics, history, social studies, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, geography, physical education, music, visual arts, craft and home economics. Thi is quite different from the Philippine education,the curriculum does not include foreign languages aside from English,mother tongue is not studied but there were proposals to use the moher tongue as medium of instruction. Like the Pihlippines, Finland offers free education also. Basic education is nine-year comprehensive school with no official qualification. This comprehensive school is compulsory.Final certificate is granted for acceptable completion of the syllabus. This is in preparation for the upper secondary which offers general education for students of about 16-19 years of age. Planned syllabus like in the comprehesive school is also followed for 3 years.Upper secondary school ends with the matriculation examination. Like the Philippines, Finland offers also vocational and polytecnic courses Initial vocational education builds on the basic education syllabus and provides 2-3-year instruction in almost all fields of working life. However, there is a decision to extend the duration of all initial vocational education to three years. Polytechnics provide instruction for expert functions in the sectors of natural resources, technology and communications, business and administration, tourism, catering and institutional management, health care and social services, culture, and the humanities and education.

Studies leading to a polytechnic degree take 3.5-4.5 years. University Education
There are twenty universities in Finland: ten multidisciplinary universities, three universities of technology, three schools of economics and business administration and four art academies. The network of universities covers the different parts of the country and provides a student place for almost one third of the age group. All universities are owned by the State. Academic degrees in the military field can be taken at the National Defence College falling under the administrative field of the Ministry of Defence.

The decision-making system of the universities is highly independent. Their operation is prescribed by the Universities Act and Decree. Moreover, their activities are regulated by field-specific decrees on degree systems, governing the field-specific educational duties as well as the definitions, structures, scope, objective and contents of degrees. Universities and their faculties decide on the degree regulations and curricula.

EDUCATION FOR ALL

Dear Professor,

Truly the success of one nation lies on the education of its people. Education gives access to all opportunities and successes in life. The poorer the education a country has the lower its economy.

When I heard about the EFA 2015 (Education For All), deep inside I said this is it. Honestly, I am happy and I praised the planner and implementer of this goal. I know how sad I am about the situation of our country. All of us are suffering from crises; economic, education, corruption, criminals are everywhere and every life is in danger. These things will be resolved if education for all will be truly implemented. With its promising goals success is not beyond reach.

The Philippine government is serious about implementing EFA program. With this the government sent delegates to Dakar, Senegal for the World Education Forum to bind themselves (ourselves) for the commitment of truly implementing the EFA 2015. The Dakar Framework is a collective commitment to action. This is to ensure that the governments commitment and responsibility towards EFA goals and target are sustained and implemented through cooperation and partnership within countries, through the support of regional, and international agencies and institutions.
I realized that education for all is impossible to achieve if only few people are committed. If the government is really serious with this matter this is not impossible to reach.


Bernadette Edago- Calvo

AUSTRALIA EDUCATION SYSTEM

Dear Professor Olga,

Good day!

Another Saturday is done and another learning to ponder on. It was a nice experience to travel Australia though it’s imaginary because it’s only in the slide show presentation. Thank you for that idea.

The travel was so fun. It’s nice to know their educational system that made Filipino scholars to follow such system since it is effective, and besides it is now the world’s standard. No wonder the K+12 Program is being encouraged because of the fact that Australia shows significant effect in their educational system. Going back to our previous discussion that only Philippines has the shortest years for students to stay in school plus the fact that our educational system is not that quality for the fact that a large number of students in one session per class with only one teacher

Primary schools and high schools are based on the age of the student, so that every class has the same age group, with a student hardly having to repeat a year. The students with problems in their studies may be put into special classes to help with academic deficits. The majority of the children start in the primary school with the age of 5 years (year 1) and the child studies in the primary school until they are around 12 years old ( year 7). Like in the Philippines, preschool pupils are taken care by Day Care Centers run by DSWD, preschool children in Finland also are taken care of the regulated centers like the “Child Care” or families in registered residences who take care of the kids in a system called "Family Day Care".

The student goes for secondary school with 12/13 years (year 8), and is he/she is only compulsorily required to stay to year 10, receiving a junior high school certificate but not a high school certificate. The year 11 (15/16 YO) and 12 (16/17 YO), are optional but are required to be successfully completed to attain a high school diploma. Some of the options for those students leaving the school in year 10 include training –apprenticeship, to enter the work force or to study in any vocational course.

The results of the last two years of high school are the most important ones, as they are the ones to be evaluated for entry levels in Universities. The results which you achieve for each subject (compared to the rest of the students) will then give you a rank. The board of secondary studies than calculates an “OP” score (overall position) using a formula of you high school results and a test called “QCS” (in Queensland) which is taken by every year 12 in the state, which is used to compare students (schools) of the same year level between schools. The last 2 years is where students begin to guide their education towards their chosen professions. The student will choose what to study depending on the career in which they intend to follow. For example, a student who wants to do Engineering in University should chose subjects such as physics, and high level mathematics instead of subjects such as history, or biology. For international students there are options with easier level subjects inside the curriculum. There is the easy level English, the easy mathematics etc, and they are the options for the students not going to apply for a academic career in an university course. In general the subjects are divided in letters such as Maths type A, B, C or names such as Board English (harder one) and English Communication (easier one).

The schedule of the lessons is Monday to Friday, 8:45 am to 3 pm, with breaks for lunch and snacks. Extra Curricular activities such as soccer practice, dance classes, etc is done after school hours or Saturday mornings.
The government schools offer subsidized public transport if necessary but most students who are enrolled in the schools, usually live around the geographic area limit of school and are able to go walking or by bicycle.

Private Schools in general are related to a religion and usually they offer more options in music and sports. In both all students have to use of uniforms but in the private schools the rules are more restricted about the use of a complete uniform. The educational courses and standards of all high schools are very similar and all prepare students for the same national, recognized qualifications in the country.

The Certificates and Diplomas of Vocational Courses allow the students to enter and leave different levels of academic studies. The unify system of education allows the student to register for Certificate course which then after completion may give credits to Diploma courses or Degrees, in case the student continues in a University. Professional experience may also be recognized. The technical courses are often considered a "bridge" to enter in an Australian University.
Australia has both government and private Universities that offer to programs called "Under Graduate", and after graduation courses called "Graduate Programs or Post Graduate". In general the time of duration of the Graduate Certificates =6 months, Master=1 year, Master Honor=1.5 year, Doctorate= 2 years. However these degrees are not measured by time but by subjects/ courses taken, therefore depending on how may subjects/courses you are doing per semester, it may impact the time it takes to complete them.

A Bachelor degree generally takes three years, and can also be done in only two years in some universities (such as Bond) with fewer days holiday. The majority of the structures offer the opportunity to combine two qualifications. In that you will be able to finish a University with a two qualifications or a "Double Degree" by studying one more year. For example: Bachelor Degree of IT & Business in 4 years. After finishing aN Under Graduate degree you can get then continue on to a Graduate degree either in Master or PhD. The Master and Doctorate are intensive studies and in general include research with supervision.


Bernadette Edago- Calvo

CHINA EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

Dear Professor,

It was rich discussion last meeting. I was excited to learn the educational system of the country called the “Sleeping Giant”- the China. I learned that most of their men in China go to school than their women. Unlike Philippines, women are more zealous to come to school even if they are already married. Even after finishing bachelor’s degree, more women still go to school to continue post graduate study.

China like Japan, they also have a compulsory education for 9 years. In fact, they made it as a law which took effect on July 1, 1986. I remember this was also the date when Cory Aquino took place as a president and during her regime, free education was also given to the Filipino people and until now the Filipino people are still enjoying free education from pre school to high school but unlike China it wasn’t compulsory, but they have EFA 2015 education for all in 2015 for all Filipino.

China’s basic education is somewhat like the Philippines, they have preschool – 3-6 age, elementary 6-12 years old, Junior high school 12-15 and senior high school 15- 18, Philippines has only 4 years in high school then students can proceed college or universities after finishing high school but the new president, Pnoy, K+12 will be implemented this school’s opening where in kinder plus 12 years in Basic education.’ 6 years in elementary and 6 years in high school which is before is only 4 years.
Like the Philippines, China also has special education created for special children. They also have vocational and technical schools like TESDA in Philippines. China also have scholarship grants and loan system in order to aid students who aspire to finish schooling. In the Philippines, scholarship is also given. My daughter Cindy, is one of the recipients of ESC grant of the government from first year to fourth year high school and now she is about to graduate and I hope she can also get a PESFA college scholarship grant to continue her higher education.

China is also aspiring to have the best and quality schools but financial constraints. They spent a lot for science and technology, study research and study abroad. Funding is not enough for other educational needs. The same also with the other countries, particularly Philippines plus corruption is over riding.

I believed that good education does not only confined in good facilities, advance technologies but teachers’ development and having quality teachers are one of the big factors to be considered because they are the carrier of the good education. It is good to know that China is giving emphasis to their teachers who will and mold children for the future. Teacher factor is really important. Teacher hiring should be screened and tightened rather than hiring whom and not what you know teacher applicants. This is really a big problem when we compromise quality the end result is not good. All suffer because of few vested interest.

With all these, I realized that no matter how beautiful the system is, if it is not well implemented is a waste of time, a waste of money and a waste of effort for the concerned persons who strive hard to carry through the goals because it will never succeed. Everyone must work together to achieve such success.

My due respect to you doc, thank you! God Bless!


Bernadette Edago- Calvo