By: Villamor C. Visaya Jr.
(Published in its print version on Aug. 3- 9, 2024)
STARK reality haunts us: Millions of graduates are being produced from universities and colleges but only a handful would land a job— a decent-paying job.
A classic example is the case of Sheryl (not her real name), a graduate of Liberal Arts at a reputable university in the province. Almost daily, she peddles vegetables at the public market to send her two kids to school and to help her parents earn their daily living.
Is this a sign of a financial crisis? For Sheryl, she believes that she could not find a job that will commensurate with her college degree. Aside from her griping due to kumpadre and padrino system in some agencies, she claims that she has no guts to apply as she believes that her mental capability, her knowledge, has been slowly deteriorating since she finished her college degree a decade ago.
During her younger years after graduating from college, Sheryl tried to apply for a white-collar job at various government agencies and private entities. To her dismay, she found nothing. As a last resort, she joined her parents in tilling their farms. She eventually got married after she fell in love to an occasional farm worker. The problem has been aggravated, she admits, but she has to live with it.
Life is like that, Sheryl. We have to learn to cope with the situation, I believe.
*****
Whatever happened to the accessible rich multimedia lessons through the use of high-end mobile phones provided by a telecommunications company to some schools in the past years?
We have learned that ningas-cogon has lurks its ugly head again. Some schools in the region have reported that their high-end mobile phone units and televisions were either stolen or destroyed/damaged. Some school heads have no money to spend for repair of the damaged units.
It is so sad to hear the situation. The pre-programmed phones then were loaded with multimedia video programs for student lessons in Math, Science and English. The students could have been delighted to learn new things through exciting and meaningful videos.
Helpful lessons? No more.
Attention, school heads and teachers: Students cry for help now to avail anew of educational packages.#
