Ma’am Liling’s candor

Uriel Quilinguing .

WHILE all members of the Cabinet are perceived to be persons of integrity and competence, there’s one who is a cut from the rest, and that’s Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones which her colleagues fondly address as “Ma’am Liling.”

The President, no less, kissed her hand, out of respect, when she accepted the appointment. This, however, will not be a litany of Ma’am Liling’s credentials since no one in the education sector could ever match hers. And not only on that, Mediakonek relies on her candidness in expressing her thoughts.

Just five days ago, there was a Facebook post of Secretary Briones’ speech where she shared the responses she got, in informal conversations from students enrolled in education and those who were already licensed teachers. But the administrator of her FB account must have removed the material, for whatever reason, since it’s nowhere to be found yesterday.

Be that as it may, those I have read are in my memory since I enjoyed reading the education secretary’s frankness in saying that while teachers, about 866,000 of them nationwide, deserve the increase in salaries they are demanding, yet the learners also deserve quality teachers as well, even mentioning deficiencies in the English language just to drive home a point.

Not only that, Briones urged protesting teachers and those with myopic points of view, to consider the entire government bureaucracy when it comes to salary adjustments since these would mean additional burden on taxpayers.

She also compared the reasons why public school teachers borrow money; in the past, they needed money to prepare their kids for enrolment while today, they borrow for a vacation either in other parts of the country or abroad. Obviously, teachers in public schools are getting more than their counterparts in privately owned educational institutions, hence the exodus from private to public schools in the past five years now.  

Motivations in becoming a teacher, she said, has also metamorphosed. Before, students enrol in education courses because they want to become teachers and impart knowledge. Now, they take up education courses because it is not as expensive as the other course offerings such as engineering, medicine, and accountancy.

Aside from those which Secretary Briones mentioned, Mediakonek also observed that since 2013 when Basic Education Reforms or K to 12 program was introduced, enrolment statistics in education courses were on an uptrend.

Three possible examinations are at hand for this: first, the passing percentage in the licensure examinations for teachers (LET) is relatively high; second, there are thousands of vacant plantilla positions awaiting for qualified applicants; and third, the salary levels are relatively high compared to other professionals.

Sadly, these cannot guarantee learners that their teachers really love teaching, even if they have the competence, knowledge and skills.

Still, Mediakonek believes that if those in Deped’s regional and division level offices possess the same degree of candor as Ma’am Liling’s, then generating public support to programs that ensure quality education to learners will come easy.