By: Florenda L. Valencia, Teacher I, BO. Central ES

Education is the ultimate tool of this modern world. It empowers everyone to achieve one’s life goals. Learning life skills is undoubtedly the most vital objective of education. This is the reason why teaching is considered the noblest profession and teachers are declared as modern heroes of today’s generation. They are the pillar of an educational system.
21st-century teachers are heroic and gallant in nature and actions that accolades their expertise in teaching and leading their students in dynamic standards on their own way of wisdom and knowledge. They are one of the most valued assets of any country. They impart knowledge and skills to the students, who after completion of their studies, join the different sectors of society and start contributing towards the development of the country’s economy. Recent global changes have resulted in the creation of new challenges competition, technological advancements, quality assurance, standardization, and cost minimization, which have hardly hit every sector throughout the world.
According to Sir Ken Robinson, the more intricate the world becomes, the more innovative we need to be to meet its difficulties and challenges. Every individual needs to be resourceful and ingenious to be successful, but while the idea of success has altered, the education system has not always accustomed its methods or goals to meet it.
Certainly, we are facing a lot of difficulties in terms of education. Sad, but the truth has come out that we are at the bottom of the barrel in terms of education. What’s going on with our education, too much emphasis on competition and politics? Who’s to be blamed? What could the government do to upgrade the quality of education in the Philippines?
Personally, curriculum reform is much needed. We need to analyze and focus on the substance and not on the embellishments. A far-reaching overhaul is essential in every aspect of education. By updating the K-12 Curriculum, improving the physical facilities of schools including laboratories and computers, training teachers and school heads, and getting the involvement of significant people in the community will surely provide quality education.
There are so many things to consider in updating the educational system. Like, as too many competencies, too many subjects, too many school activities, lack of facilities, unclear educational policies, teacher-student ratio, finances, and less contact with the students because of too much paper works and other related tasks. The Department of Education (DepEd) is now pivoting to quality education and the government will support through allocating a higher budget for the next school year.
Nevertheless, we need to change our educational system. A learner-centered curriculum that promotes critical thinking, flexibility, creativity, and active learning. We need a long-term curriculum that fits our learners. It is not just about technology, but we need to create a platform wherein learning environments give students the acquiescence to construct knowledge, formulate theories and create trends to sustain 21st-century classroom educators.