Lost school days

Every year, on average, 53 school days are lost due to weather disturbances, according to Education Secretary Sonny Angara.

- ANA MARIE PAMINTUAN

In the typhoon-hit Cordilleras alone, he said 35 days have already been lost so far this school year as of mid-November.

The Department of Education (DepEd) has jurisdiction over kindergarten to high school.

A similar count must be done by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), which runs the community daycare or kiddie schools.

In my neck of the woods, classes are canceled not just during typhoons, but seemingly at the drop of a hat even in fine weather, at the DSWD-run kiddie school.

If this happened in private schools where tuition is not free, the school could face a lawsuit, or see an exodus of students.

The problem with our universal free education, from kiddie to tertiary level, is that the government thinks free can mean substandard, and the beneficiaries are in no position to complain.

But kiddie schools, for kids aged three to four, aren't simply nurseries where working moms who can't afford nannies park their toddlers. Kiddie schools are learning institutions.

A parent in the kiddie school was told that the classes were suspended regularly because teachers had to attend meetings or were tapped for non-teaching tasks such as keeping watch at evacuation centers.

If teachers in DSWD-run schools are also made to serve as welfare personnel, the kiddie schools must be taken out of the department and turned over to the DepEd.

Education and child psychology experts have long emphasized the importance of early childhood education, stressing that learning capacity is at its optimum in the early years.

Anyone who has seen children grow up knows how quickly the kids absorb everything, from multiple languages to basic mental, physical, and motor skills.