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First, there were FIVE, and then it grew to NINE. Now… there are FOUR and there will be more...
The first group of 5th year students was in the school year 2008-2009, there were five students in that group; Patricia Masferre, John Amos Lopez, Gretchen Sumbad, Vivian Padilan and Wincy Padilan. The following school year of 2009-2010, the number of 5th year students increased by four, there were nine students; Bingo Aligo, Joseph Bagano, Harrel Daluyen, Salome Gomowad, Kimberly Fiar-od, Daphne Cacay, Joan Padalla, Micah Esteban and Tasheina Yodong. This school year, the numbers dropped by five so now there are four 5th year students; Emelyn Agyod, Kim Antonette Lopez, Daniel Clint Soliba and Aylwin Jon Timmango.
It is now mandatory! The 5th year program is now required for 4th year students who are younger than 16 years old when the school year starts. The 5th year is a year level after a student finishes the 4th year level of high school.
“A student who is below 16 years old when s/he becomes a 4th year student has to take 5th year, no exceptions and no arguments,” Sir Dennis Faustino said.
Previously, there were no permanent subjects that the 5th years were taking, but when the 2011-2012 school year starts, there will be a permanent schedule for 5th year students. The subjects will be: Life of Rizal, Word History, Scientific Applications, Creative and Technical Writing, Pre-Calculus/Business Math, one Elective and one Practicum.
Life of Rizal will talk about Jose Rizal’s works excluding Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. World History will have coverage of the historical events that happened from World War Two up until the present time. The subject Scientific Applications involves the combination of topics from Biology, Chemistry and Physics. Creative and Technical Writing will tackle the different writing skills and techniques needed in composition, essays and reflections. The school will also offer a choice between Pre-Calculus and Business Math for the students’ Math subject.
Lastly, the 5th year students will have one Elective and one Practicum to enhance their knowledge about the courses they would want to take.
SIR FAUSTINO’S VISION
Most of the students who graduate from secondary education find college life very difficult and this often results to students dropping out of college, stopping their studies for a while, shifting courses and some of them start to engage in “passionate heaven”. As a consequence to these actions, the percentage of success in pursuing their dreams drops down.
Luckily, Sir Faustino realized this continuous cycle in college and made plans to avoid the same fate happening to the SMSS graduates. He once said, “It is not the I.Q., it is the E.Q.”.
I.Q. means intelligence quotient while E.Q. refers to emotional intelligence; emotional preparedness is more important than the intelligence of a person, especially in college life.
“Not all students who enter college are smart,” Sir Faustino said. “Not all of them can get through college life without difficulty. In fact, even the smart ones have a hard time coping up with college life. So what is left for those students who are not that smart? They usually lose hope in finishing college and they start to play around.”
Being emotionally and mentally prepared is very important; knowing what course a student wants to pursue, knowing what he wants to become, increase in his ability to think deeply (depth of thinking), being prepared to change of study habits in college education and being emotionally prepared to be far away from his home and his family are the main things that will strengthen the will of the student in finishing college education.
Even a student that does not have a very high I.Q. will have a high chance of success if he is emotionally and mentally prepared for tertiary education. Realizing this, Sir Faustino offered the 5th year program as an optional additional year level to 4th year students between the 2008 and 2011 school years.
“In hopes for a better college life for SMS graduates and to better prepare them for the next step ahead of high school, the 5th year program will now be mandatory in the start of school year 2011-2012,” he said.
EFFECT OF 5TH YEAR IN SCHOOL
Though Sir Faustino aims for SMS graduates to be able to succeed in chasing their dreams; his decision was not accepted easily by students or parents in financial terms, as well as the students’ reason of wanting to be free just after 4th year. Some parents of the students enrolled at SMS cannot afford an additional year in high school, especially if the money is supposed to be used for the college education of the student. Fourteen 4th year students transferred to other schools because of the 5th year program; mainly because they do not want to be in high school for an additional year and that they may want to go to college as soon as possible.
“Personally, I think it’s a wrong decision to leave the school but it is not for me to judge them,” the Principal said.
PRESIDENT Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III & THE PROJECTED DED-ED PROGRAM
Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III said during his campaign for the presidency that if he won and became the President of the Philippines, he would try to propose that the Philippines should have at least 12 years of pre-college education. He said that he plans to change the present curriculum of 10 years pre-college education to 12 years. Now that he has won and is the new President of our country, plans for the implementation of the new educational system of 12 years pre-college education are under way.
The Department of Education or Dep-ED is the executive department of our country’s government and is the chief formulator of our country’s educational policy. It is responsible for the primary and secondary school system. Dep-ED recently lowered the age requirement for children to enter Grade One of elementary education from seven years old down to six years old.
It is agreeing with President Aquino’s vision of having 12 years pre-college education but it says that they plan to make kindergarten one of the added years and then make Grade 7 as the second year. It will keep the other year levels in elementary and high school so the total pre-college year levels would be 12 years.
When Sir Faustino was asked about this, he said, “Kindergarten is already a part of our children’s education and what is the point in adding another year in kindergarten but instead adding it in the high school level to have a 5th year? If the Dep-ED adds one year in high school, the secondary students would have more opportunities to learn and get prepared of the concepts and topics they will encounter in college. They will be better developed mentally, emotionally and psychologically.”
BURDEN ON THE GOVERNMENT
Implementing 12 years of pre-college education is not that easy to do. There are many things to consider, most especially the finances, the lesson plans, number of students and number of classrooms. The available finances of a country affect everything it does from road construction to feeding the people. If the pre-college education is increased to 12 years, this would be another burden for the government to support and maintain especially since the Philippines is having economic and financial trouble. To add two more years in pre-college education means that the government has to change its plans in distributing the money to the different government offices; Dep-ED would need more money than what it normally receives from the government in order to run, supply and maintain the 12 years of pre-college education if President Aquino and the Senators agree to implement it.
More importantly, the government cannot support the payroll of the many teachers in our country. The number of teachers is not a problem. The real problem is the available budget of the government in employing them. Also, many available teachers are inexperienced as there only few professional and experienced teachers.
Last but not the least is that the Dep-ED does not know what lessons they will offer to students if two years of pre-college education are added. The Dep-ED must also consider that the lessons in all subjects’ areas should not be repeated because it’s like that the extra year is useless as the students should already have the knowledge.
INTERNATIONAL SCENE
Did u know that we are the only country in the WORLD that does not have 12 years of pre-college education? Yes! That’s right! Last year there were only two countries in the world that did not have 12 years of pre-college education: the Philippines and Botswana. However, the government of Botswana recently imposed mandatory 12 years pre-college education in their country. That means that our country is the only independent state out of 194 independent sovereign states in the world that does not have 12 years of pre-college education. With this in mind, President Aquino hopes to change that so that our country will not be left behind.
AUTHOR’S FIRST TESTAMENT
Fifth year is somewhat of a girder, enabling students to reach higher and for them to have an extension so that they will not be short when they go to college. The sacrifice is just to endure one more year of learning but the price is tenfold that sacrifice. What is better, pursuing college without any foundation or taking up fifth year that will ensure students to be ready?
We were not forced to take up 5th year but we felt that we lacked something and to find that, we entered into this program. At first it was hard; we do not see our batch mates/classmates that we accompanied throughout the four years stay here in Saint Mary’s. It was hard adapting to an environment without them, we are coping up and now; we are enjoying being 5th year students. Our minds our being trained in preparation for college, our thinking getting deeper, we gain knowledge, we prepare ourselves for what is soon to come. Our message to you is simple; enjoy being a 5th year student when the time comes, don’t take it up for granted; for the things you students will get from it will help you in college, in ways you will not have expected.
--Aylwin Jon Timmango--
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