My Two Cents Worth: Additional 2 Years in School

I loved going to school.  I loved the structure of having a schedule and being in uniform.  I loved being a kid free from the realities of life.  My only concern then was how to earn good grades. How to beat my secret opponent by making sure I was always 1 up on her. I enjoyed college and my org activities.  I loved staying at our tambayan.   If you would tell me then that there would be 2 more years of this, than I'd be one very, very happy being.

Now that I'm a parent, I'm on the fence about this.  First I thought financial. True, that additional years would bring additional financial burden to me and Dad (considering we only have one child and LS tuition is no walk in the park).  Second, most mom blogs I've read have commented on improving the quality of our educational system and upgrading the support (classrooms, teacher salaries) first.  True also since, going to school longer in our current curriculum, doesn't mean we will have more quality graduates.  

As it is, students in the private school have already more years of schooling anyway.  Busy Boy for example, is only 7, but he has been going to school for 5 years (Pre-Nursery, Nursery, Kinder, Prep, Grade 1 and currently Grade 2). More than half his life.  Will he turn out to be a better citizen someday? I hope so.

I tried to understand where DepEd's point is coming from. Those additional 2 years of basic schooling could make us at par with the rest of the world as they say. So-so curriculum or not.   I guess they believe that studying more would eventually make you learn more.  When you know more, you earn more.  With the basics covered,  one can jump right into the thick of your course when you get to college (no more General Education subjects like Kasaysayan and Nat Sci).

Given how we all love the freedom of choice, I think this additional 2 years should be optional. Either give it to those who can and those who want.  Or, screen the students and check their aptitude.  If they can do without it, fine.  If not, sorry, you should have studied more. Or at least give another option.

It'll be a while before our administration can resolve this.  I'd personally want Busy Boy to be street smart rather than academically smart as succeeding in life is not measured by how well you do in school alone.  Like that bank ad says,  its making do with what you have that will count.