Building Bridges

When I attended the Career Executive Service Officers Training class in 1991 at the Development Academy of the Philippines (government executives are expected to go through this course), building bridges was a module handled by Ms. Cora Alma de Leon. It meant working with other organizations.

When I was transferred to Region VIII (from Region IV), building bridges meant including project proposals for roads and bridges as contained in the Regional Development Plan.

Now, there's another type of bridge everyone is talking about, especially pupils and their parents.

It's DepEd's “bridge program”. Elementary school graduates who do not reach the cut-off 50 percentage score in the High School Readiness Test will go through a year of lessons in English, Mathematics and Science instead of being enrolled in first year high school.

The NEDA Board Executive Committee endorsed this last year. The other day, the NEDA Board Social Development Committee endorsed it.

NEDA Director-General Romulo L. Neri, however, said it was giving the DepEd the leeway on how the program would be implemented in a way that is acceptable to the public.

There are many sides to the issue. It has been thoroughly debated. The final point should be – will the bridge program make our high school graduates better prepared to go through college?

With only 1.82 percent getting a score of 75 percent or more in the Readiness Test, the answer is obvious. Most of our elementary graduates are not ready.

If graduates are not ready, going through college is not advisable. The unpreparedness just multiplies. The problem keeps on increasing.

Ever wonder why unemployment is high? Maybe it's the readiness that isn't there that's causing much of the problem.

Going through the bridge seems to be the only choice.