National progress and our technical manpower education

Media

Part of The Carolinian

Title: National progress and our technical manpower education
Creator: Mesiona, Arsenio D.
Language: English
Year: 1965
Rights
Fulltext: THE ECONOMIC CONDITION of our country today is one which might be called an irony. Almost everything we need are imported. Materials and tools for our local production, transportation equip ment, home appliances, and even the most essential commodities in our life, such as rice is imported. When can we attain self-sufficiency in our economic needs? It is a vi cious prodigality of the gifts which God has given us in the form of wealth in natural resources. It seems that there is a complete dis regard of our potentiality in emer ging as an industrial giant among i he world’s family of nations. Why haven’t we Filipinos achieved pro minence which the Japanese or the Dutch has done in the field of in dustry, when in fact their country has only a fraction of our mineral wealth ? This might be because the early years of our nation were pre occupied with the problems of forg ing a stable foundation of our liber ties. Now, when we are more or less assured of our democratic stabili ty, is the time to look over the hor izons for prospects of alleviating our poverty which has already be come our wayoff life. And this can only be done by industrialization of our country. President Macapa gal in his recent state of the nation address to Congress strongly em phasized that only through indus trialization can national progress be effected. For it has been the sign of our age that industrial act ivity is the gauge of the people’s living condition and consequently the state. For an eventual extensive devel opment of our industries, another inevitable problems will arise. There will be a great need for men with specialized training to run intricate machines and conduct the various manufacturing processes. So it is necessary for us to ponder a bit on this serious problem of how ready are we to meet the demands for technical manpower. For a noncritical observation, it seems that our production of technical men, particularly engineers is at a fast rate. From a report made by the Social Sciences and Humanities Branch of the National Science Development Board, figures were available, that of the 371 educa tional institutions (collegiate level) throughout the country, there are approximately 13,000 annual gra duates of the engineering course. These results may make us breath contentedly, but can we depend on National Progress And Our Technical Manpower Education by cArsenio "U. tfMesiona -e.e.-iv their quality? Unfortunately, the answer is in the negative. What we want is continuous quality of the quantity, for excellence is the byword of every man enmeshed in very highly technological under taking. Looking deeper into the capabilities of these graduates, we will find that most of them are substandard to be classified as gen uine engineers. Take for example the particular case of 300 applicant engineers of a reputable oil firm in the Philippines. After the usual processing only 30 were considered as real engineers based on average European standards. If this will be the trend, then of the thousands that obtain a degree of any engieering course, onlj’ 10 percent has the blessings of falling within the category of real engineers. This of course is not intended to discre dit the prestige and glamour of the engineering profession, but to make us see the demerits of our present system thereby justifying us for a revolution in the whole structure of our technological edu cation. Since universities and colleges are the arsenals of trained man power, then the quality of our tech nical pool of manpower is greatly determined by the graduates these institutions turn out. To prevent an eventual mass production of half-baked technical men, a parti cular legislation, Republic Act 2067 was passed in 1957 for the purpose of strengthening the educational system of the country so the same will provide a steady source of competent scientific and technolo gical manpower. The engineering courses, in spite of the professionalized curriculum, have only afforded a superficial training which is very much inade quate to meet the needs of a prac tical man in technical fields. Some educational institutions, sensing their duty for training personnel who can be made available to our expanding needs as a developing nation, conducted research on what ills plague the present system. The Ateneo Centennial Commis sion in its report on Science Edu cation listed down some of the specific problems and suggestions as quoted below. 1. The teachers — In order to attract more competent teachers into our schools, incentives should be offered in the form of higher pay, bonuses, fellowships and schol arships. 2. Selective admission — To in sure that those students who will undergo advanced training in science and technology will be ca pable of carrying on the work and will profit from it, a system of se lective admission into courses in science and technology should be adopted. 3. Curriculum — Steps should be taken to revise curricula and eliminate overlapping and less es sential subjects that can be learn ed easily by the students alone. Curriculum-making by legislation should be stopped or avoided. It is a highly technical job which should be handled by specialists. 4. Board examinations — The emphasis on the passing of govern ment Board examinations has harmful effects on the student. He devotes more attention to Board subjects and less to non-Board subjects which in actual practice could be just as useful if not more to his professional career. 5. Creating science atmosphere — To create a better atmosphere for science, it is suggested that museums of science and technology and science societies are to be es tablished. Page Forty-Six THE CAROLINIAN March-April, 1965 6. Spoon-feeding — Too much spoon-feeding is evident in our schools and universities. Students show aversion to subjects or me thods of instruction which require thinking. More attention on train ing how to think should be given and the greater use of the library should be encouraged to develop the habit of independent study. 7. Teachers’ and students’ load — More emphasis on quality than quantity should be exercised; on what the diploma stands for than on the diploma proper. A passion for thoroughness and hard work should be inculcated in the stu dents. Similarly, professors should not be overloaded, but be allowed time to improve themselves profes sionally and meet students for much-needed consultations. 8. Size of class — The size of classes, especially in laboratory courses, should be kept as small as possible. 9. Student apprenticeship — Students in engineering and other course preparing for a scientific profession should be encouraged to take apprenticeship in some indus tries or business firms. The mix ing of work and study is a whole some arrangement for a growing mind. 10. Equipment and facilities — Since the laboratory place an indis pensable role in technological edu cation, it should be adequately equipped with materials and equip ments for individual, group and class experiments. But most of the supplies have to be imported, so the government should help decrease the cost and difficulty of procurthem by minimizing if not abolish ing red tape and import taxes on them. Inspired with the unselfish ef forts of the private sector of edu cation for the upliftment of our educational system, the Board of National Education created a Re vamp Committee with Secretary of Education Alejandro R. Roces and the then Undersecretary Mi guel B. Gaffud as Co-chairman to look over our present system. With the realization of this projected educational revolution, we hope our country’s need for scientist engineers who are liberally edu cated and who can assume without further effort the managerial as pects of industry will thus be met more effectively. # THE SANTO NINO OF CEBU (Continued tury before the formal introduc tion of Christianity during the suc cessful colonization of the islands by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi. Hardly realizing its true signifi cance, the early Cebuanos had held the image in great reverence, peti tioning it in all their necessities, and offering sacrifices to the San to Nino in the manner of their other idols. The Santo Nino be came, then as now, the symbol of deliverance in times of drought, famine and plague, and protector in times of fire and other dangers, which in those early days were ma nifested in “Moro” attacks. After the Spaniards came, the cult of the Santo Nino spread to the rest of the islands where important se condary centers were set up in the islands of Luzon (the southern part) and Panay. In Panay the early parishes es tablished by the Augustinians where, up to this day the devotion to the Santo Nino is well establish ed, were in Aklan, Banga and Ibajay. Aklan, which is now a sepa rate province, incorporates the municipalities of Banga and Ibajay, and in addition, three other centers of Santo Nino devotion: the proTHE GLASS MENAGERIE (Continued from page 26) and promotion staff are the following: Resi) Mojares, executive chairman; Leandro Quintana, production manager; Eddie Yap, and Vic Cui, stage managers; Tony Buagas Jr. Manny Manlegro, Nes tor Magan, Frank Coliflores, Edgar Saso, Manuel Amora and the Engineering Deltans, stage crew; Vic Cui, light; Ed gar Gica, sound; the Deltans and the USC-SCCAC Chapter, property; Fely Lucas, make-up; Beth Hermosfsima, costumes: Ellen Viloria, hair-do; Jennie Kimseng, finance; M. Satorre, Jr., pro gram, sales, publicity; Vivien Alix, Rise Faith Espina, reception; Sally Go, cock tails; Fotorama, Inc., photography and Rev. Fr. John Vogelgesang, S.V.D., ad viser. Obviously, as in any play or story, we must end. Tennessee Williams sleeps, but his works tremble all over the world like a burning candle stirred by the wind. Professor Fitch would soon leave us and leave for the United States. Some mem bers of the Cast and of the production staff must have graduated and left the front page 22) vincial capital of Kalibo and the municipalities of Makato and Altavas. An indigenous religious prac tice connected with the devotion to the Santo Nino of Cebu, is tak ing the Santo Nino in fluvial pro cession. This is still very much in evidence in Aklan and the prac tice is called “Pasalom.” For that matter, the fluvial procession is evident throughout those other areas where the Santo Nino devo tion is strong among the people. In the Visayas, one other area which merits mention is the island of Leyte, especially the City of Tacloban. In Manila, aside from the city proper, the districts with a flour ishing devotion to the Santo Nino are Pandacan, Tondo and Makati. Immediate surrounding provinces with a strong devotion to the Santo Nino are Bulacan and Cavite. Highly responsible for the propa gation of this devotion in the abovementioned areas, were, no doubt, the pioneer Augustinian mission aries who belonged to the Province of Santisimo Nombre de Jesus. From these early centers the devo tion was, in turn, spread through out the rest of the islands. J university by now. But the memory ling ers, one turbulent November week of last year cries out the unfulfilled echoe of Williams, in agony: ‘‘I didn’t go to the moon. I went much farther. For time is the longest distance between two places.... I travelled around a great deal. The cities swept about me like dead leaves, leaves that were bright ly colored but torn away from the branches. I would have stopped, but I was pursued by something. It always came upon me unaware, taking me alto gether by surprise. Perhaps it was a familiar bit of music. Perhaps it was only a piece of transparent glass... Oh, Laura, Laura, I tried to leave you be hind me, but I am more faithful than I intended to be! I reached for a cigarette, I cross the street, I run into a movie or a bar. I buy a drink, I speak to the near est stranger — anything that can blow your candles out — for nowadays the world is lit by lightning. Blow out your candles, Laura.... And so — goodbye!!” March-April, 1965 Page Forty-Seven