The university status

two local colleges are currently in the go to make its petitions for a university status heard and approved in Congress. After the commotion, should it wind up favorably, there would be 4 state universities in the region. The Bicol University, the Partido State University, and these last 2 , hopefully.

The present condition of having 2 universities has crossed the line of 1 region, 1 university policy which has been initiated by cooler education technocrats. But politics in this country appears to be unrestrained, never mind if hell breaks loose so long as the attendant goal, no matter how irrelevant to common good, of the politician is fulfilled. See what it has gotten us into: the 2nd most corrupt, why not no. 1 so the joke goes, and very poor indeed.

Yet can the politician be solely blamed for this when he’ll say that it’s what you ask for and I need your vote. And who are we talking about here? When education policy is detemined by people other than teachers, I mean real ones with expertise, there is something wrong with that education.

Lately, our inadequacies in education from the elementary up to the tertiary (college) levels have been brought to light by dependable surveys. Even the ADB, which indirectly or otherwise, links investment to education, has pointed to the CHEDs poor monitoring of Philippine universities, which was accepted by the commission, causing their overcrowding. Then we forget the information the next day. It’s as if our mind is so compartmentalized that we consciously seek refuge in forgetting the basic facts, alluding to regression of Dr. Sigmund Freud when there is absolutely no need for it.

Let us say basing from the theory of forgetting by Hermann Ebbinghaus that we do not remember a college to belong to the term university whose 2 main tasks are: to teach culture and perpetuate it, which eventually translate to instruction, to research, and to extension. We can likewise forget the nature of our commitment to students and communities. This we can extend to the advocacies of our laws, rules, resolutions, and practices and our colleges looking more like barangay high schools, credible informants say. It’s easy when we rely on our political cords to the powers that be.

Through such, we can place anyone in any sensitive or insensitive positions in the academic and administrative scales. We have the privilege and no more. No misgivings, we hang on these positions by hook or by crook so long as we vow loyalty, and unquestionable it is, like a true-blue Filipino, to the politician.
So, the politician gives us the university status.

What is its take? The college, now with the status, gets more funds to make more solvent its services. Yes, to a little extent. No, to more, for it would show the scope of crudeness of its faculties and its administration. The blind leading another blind, you know where both go. Take note, in the center is the politician. Now you tell me, is the increase of money to the college worth it?

There was this boy who hoped to go to college to provide for his future. He was poor so he thought of shining shoes to earn money. He saved it. He was earning. Naturally, he’d improve on his shining of shoes to better his earning. It’s common sense.

And the educationist in the new university? It could only misguide that boy.

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I give my heartfelt thanks to Sanoi (New Jersey), to Mickey (Canada) and other readers for their kind words and praises to this column and to other writers of the Bicol Mail. My colleagues and I look at it as encouragement to be more vigilant and honest as we pursue the mission of our tabloid. May “Ina” take good care of you always. Thank you again.