‘Are my grandkids really learning?’

First of three parts

Inquirer ran front page stories on crises in education and mental health (Jan. 31 and Feb. 1, 2023),” says Rosco, a family business patriarch. “You also wrote about winning debate with math (Jan. 19 and 26, 2023) and not caring about customers (Feb. 2 and 9, 2023). They are all linked! If people cannot think well, they cannot handle problems.”

“The timing of the news stories and my columns was not intentional,” I say. “But you have a point. Poor problem solving can be traced to poor mindset, skills, attitudes. Problem solving is at the heart of math, and in the year 2000, National Scientist Fr. Ben Nebres and I started a problem solving class to equip future leaders with mental toughness and the requisite skills to handle complex issues. David Africa, one of the winning debaters, did well in our course. And his debate partner Tobi Leung did well in my other math class which requires solid reasoning and problem solving.”

“My grandkids will inherit our business someday,” says Rosco. “Many public schools have big problems, but what about well-known private schools? My apo are honor students in expensive schools, but they cannot answer simple math and other questions. We give them everything they want, but what on earth are they learning? They are also so anxious. Why? And they lack life skills and common sense.”

“Let’s not go into mental health now,” I say, “I will discuss it next time. But giving kids everything is not wise. You know that. As for life skills, Inquirer recently reported (April 12, 2023) that graduates lack empathy, resilience, communication skills, which worry employers. I do webinars on practical ways to build resilience, based on our study that applies more to our local situation than Western theories. Schools and parents ask for resilience sessions, and increasingly also family businesses, multinationals, health groups.”

“You have to conduct a resilience briefing for us,” says Rosco. “I will ensure that my apo tune in! Now I want my apo to think deeply, like how your students used math thinking in debate. Filipino students do badly in global surveys, so as my legacy, I want to help them learn math well. At first I wanted to donate computers, but my apo are online all the time, and are they really learning?”

“Avoid throwing money indiscriminately at gadgets,” I say. “A CEO once told me that after they gave computers to public schools, these languished unused due to intermittent brownouts. A generator would have been a better gift.”

“Agreed,” says Rosco. “I thought of scholarships, but the kids in my grandkids’ schools are well-off. I can donate to education in general, but I cannot stand bureaucratic red tape. Any suggestions?”

“Education issues are overwhelming, so however you decide to help, ensure that the aims are defined and doable. Start small. Ask your prospective partner for evidence that their plans work—not in theory, but in practice. For example, the Ateneo Center for Educational Development eschews the spiral approach of K-12 and instead focuses on the basics, which helped public school students raise their scores in national exams. Funds also go directly to beneficiaries, without red tape. Fr. Ben and I work with groups that directly deal with students and teachers, such as Pathways to Higher Education and Synergeia Foundation (March 23, 2023).”

“I will check them out,” says Rosco. “What I most want is for teachers to teach the important things. Why are my apo not learning much? Is it K-12? What are schools really teaching nowadays?”

“K-12 was done with good intentions,” I say, “but it is not implemented well. Hopefully, it will be revamped wisely, with input not as much from PhDs as from teachers who face young students daily, as I suggested long ago. You wonder what your apo are learning, so ask them directly. That’s what I did with my freshmen math majors, top students from around the country.”

(Next week: Students share learning realities)