(#9) Education and ICT

A number of UPD PolSci professors resent the misconception that PolSci is a pre-law course because it is a discipline in itself. Knowing that many PolSci students aspire to become lawyers someday, one professor, whose husband and children are lawyers, told our class that the Philippines has way too many law students who either did not graduate or did not pass the bar. She said that what we need are more engineers, more scientists, and more of the other skilled professionals for our country’s development.

I agree. I have always been fascinated by ICT and I remember wanting to take up ComSci but math is my waterloo. I believe that we must really focus on Math, Sciences, and ICT especially in our basic education (Mark Zuckerberg was reportedly homeschooled by a tutor on an advance IT-related subject when he was a kid). We’ve heard time and again that children are our future; we even have own version: ang kabataan ang pag-asa ng bayan.

I know our academicians and policymakers recognize this need too especially in this digital age where ICT proficiency is a must. That’s why we have a National Institute for Science and Math Education (NISMED) in UP, as well as DOST and its agencies such as PCASTRD, DOST-SEI, etc which provides scholarships, research grants and other forms of financial assistance to students. Also, the UP ITTC holds the annual Youth Conference in Information Technology every February to encourage high school students to enroll in engineering and IT-related courses, and the Philippine Youth Congress in IT (Y4iT) for college students, IT enthusiasts and professionals every September.

But I think more effort should be exerted by the government to entice the youth, whose generation is exposed to rapid technological breakthroughs,to become more than just consumers, and instead be innovators and leaders in a world increasingly dominated by ICT. Perhaps, the government can solicit media's help by featuring IT events, having math-, science-, ICT-related or educational tv shows, radio programs or segments, newspaper and magazine columns, etc., through incentives like tax-saving devices or other measures.

Ma. Luisa Manalaysay

Entry # 9