During all my 6 years in public elementary school in the 70’s, I never experienced shortage in classrooms, inadequate toilets, shortage in teachers, nor jam-packed classes. Our teachers then were all well-respected, highly intelligent in their respective subjects.
Classes started at 6:30 A.M. and ends at 3:00 P.M. We had free nutribuns and milk during recess, periodic vaccination from various illnesses, elective courses such as carpentry, gardening, cooking, music classes, and even steno-typing.
Textbooks were not a problem. The ratio even surpassed 1:1. As I remember it right, textbooks were given to students by raffle, not because of insufficiency in supplies, but because there were books that are about 5 years old and there were those that are newly printed. But every student would eventually be given one.
Books had to be returned at the end of the school year. We were not allowed to write on these books. All pages must be intact and should be neatly covered by plastic or manila paper (with the title written on the cover) all throughout the year. If you lose or destroy a book, you are fined and had to pay for it.
When I was in Grade 4, I was assigned a science book that to my surprise was even used by my older brother when he was in Grade 4 three school years ago. I knew because he had this penchant of writing his initials “A.C.E” on page 50 of his every book.
But now, things have changed. My four children are all enrolled in the same school, Grades 6, 5, 3 and 2. Every year, they buy their books. But these books can no longer be inherited or passed on to the other kid because the school would prescribe again another set of books for the following school year.
I just wonder why. As I see it, most of the books are actually workbooks where you write on them the answers to the questions. Hence, they can no longer be passed on to another pupil the following school year. What am I to do with these books that can no longer be used?
With respect to those books which are not really workbooks, they immediately become “obsolete” because the publisher would print the following school year a new version of the book that would make it appear that the old book is now obsolete, where in fact, the newly printed book essentially contains the same things as the old one.
As I remember in my elementary days, my teachers would merely emphasize the changes and updates to some contents in a book and we would eventually take note of those changes and updates on our notebooks.
And with respect to the workbooks, we answered the questions in separate notebooks or piece of paper so that the workbooks can be used again by the succeeding pupils for a few more years.
Why is this policy not being implemented today? It could save the parents of so much money in buying the same books every year. Money that should have been spent on other important family expenses.
Evidently, parents are burdened and compelled to buy the same books every year because the production of these books is indeed big business. Not only to the publisher but to the school as well.
And wonder of wonders, we, parents cannot buy the same books directly from the publisher or from any bookstore. They are all exclusive to the school, hence, the monopoly of the price.
I do not know if there is one private school that does not earn from prescribing and selling these books. If there is one, please write us here in Punto!
And of course, in the public sector, the present practice of discarding one year-old books, and in over-pricing newly published books, could mean billions in pesos, especially now that there are about 19 Million pupils and students enrolled in public schools all over the country.
Billions that should have been devoted to construction of classrooms and toilets, or to buy computers and other school equipment, or to augment and increase the salaries of our teachers. Obsolete practice!
Classes started at 6:30 A.M. and ends at 3:00 P.M. We had free nutribuns and milk during recess, periodic vaccination from various illnesses, elective courses such as carpentry, gardening, cooking, music classes, and even steno-typing.
Textbooks were not a problem. The ratio even surpassed 1:1. As I remember it right, textbooks were given to students by raffle, not because of insufficiency in supplies, but because there were books that are about 5 years old and there were those that are newly printed. But every student would eventually be given one.
Books had to be returned at the end of the school year. We were not allowed to write on these books. All pages must be intact and should be neatly covered by plastic or manila paper (with the title written on the cover) all throughout the year. If you lose or destroy a book, you are fined and had to pay for it.
When I was in Grade 4, I was assigned a science book that to my surprise was even used by my older brother when he was in Grade 4 three school years ago. I knew because he had this penchant of writing his initials “A.C.E” on page 50 of his every book.
But now, things have changed. My four children are all enrolled in the same school, Grades 6, 5, 3 and 2. Every year, they buy their books. But these books can no longer be inherited or passed on to the other kid because the school would prescribe again another set of books for the following school year.
I just wonder why. As I see it, most of the books are actually workbooks where you write on them the answers to the questions. Hence, they can no longer be passed on to another pupil the following school year. What am I to do with these books that can no longer be used?
With respect to those books which are not really workbooks, they immediately become “obsolete” because the publisher would print the following school year a new version of the book that would make it appear that the old book is now obsolete, where in fact, the newly printed book essentially contains the same things as the old one.
As I remember in my elementary days, my teachers would merely emphasize the changes and updates to some contents in a book and we would eventually take note of those changes and updates on our notebooks.
And with respect to the workbooks, we answered the questions in separate notebooks or piece of paper so that the workbooks can be used again by the succeeding pupils for a few more years.
Why is this policy not being implemented today? It could save the parents of so much money in buying the same books every year. Money that should have been spent on other important family expenses.
Evidently, parents are burdened and compelled to buy the same books every year because the production of these books is indeed big business. Not only to the publisher but to the school as well.
And wonder of wonders, we, parents cannot buy the same books directly from the publisher or from any bookstore. They are all exclusive to the school, hence, the monopoly of the price.
I do not know if there is one private school that does not earn from prescribing and selling these books. If there is one, please write us here in Punto!
And of course, in the public sector, the present practice of discarding one year-old books, and in over-pricing newly published books, could mean billions in pesos, especially now that there are about 19 Million pupils and students enrolled in public schools all over the country.
Billions that should have been devoted to construction of classrooms and toilets, or to buy computers and other school equipment, or to augment and increase the salaries of our teachers. Obsolete practice!
