Education and our country's ills [editorial]

Title

Creator

Aller, Emilio B.

Language

English

Year

1952

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

Published by the students of the University of San Carlos Cebu City, Philippines Octoto, • 1952 Advi,A.'rGA° MS E. SCHOENFELD, SVP • Sditotfat • III Education and Our Country’s Ills In the short history of our independent Philippines, a lot of dirty, nauseating buckwash has passed under the bridge. The papers have always reported the many instances of graft and corruption in our government, the brazen violations of the la/ws of the land by private individuals, and the shameless white-ivashing of culprits tyho ought to have been placed behind prison bars. Persistent mention of the stinking mess has become drab and ordinary to some people, they no longer treat the same as news, nor as a thing to be disheartened and aghast about. The cancerous grozvth has become permanent and is taken for granted. The frequency of these violations and the lurid way they have been exposed in the papers must have rendered the minds and conscience of a lot of people callous and unfeeling. They are no longer affected by the venom and the wickedness ivhich evil deeds entail. Can it be that temperaments have become so perverted that they have a supple and fluidic way to adopt themselves to any kind of evil influence? Can it be that nowadays, only a few have retained that kind of backbone ivhich can firmly stand by what is light? Haye most degenerated so low that they are always ready to sacrifice principles for the sake of any little gain or of any momentary expediency? If this is so, there must have been bred in the few years of our independent existence very sorry versions of homo sapiens in our midst, sans honor, conscience, virtue and righteousness. But there are people who have faith in the youth of the land. They say that the leaders of today will have their time to fade away, and the youths of today will be the leaders of tomorrow. With optimism, they contend, that with the many opportunities for education in both public and private schools, which every year increase in number, youth has more chances to gear himself up to become a good citizen, and eventually, for better service to our country and to our people. Such blind faith in our youth is beautiful, if not pitiful. For there are sour notes often heard rasped against our youth of today. They say that modern youth is easy-going and usually chooses the way of least resistance in whatever he tries to do or achieve. Some point out that there are modern influences which have weakened and perverted the minds of Rizal’s “fair hope of our Fatherland.” There could be some truth to these criticisms. Taking into task the kind of youth we have today, the root cause of our country’s ills and the degeneration of our citizenry must be in the kind of education we offer in our schools. The policy-makers of our educational system must have forgotten that man consists not only of body, but also of soul. Godless education can never educate the spirit. As long as religion is not taught in all Schools of our country, the harvest will always be the same — godless citizens that can be potential exponents of all the ills ivhich our country and our government are exposed to at this very moment. HI

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