This week, Elizabeth Santos expressed to me about how the Philippines do their K-12 programs. She said that in the Philippines, grade school only goes to the 10th grade. Yet in order to compete globally, the Filipino government implemented an additional two years like we do in the United States. Even though this may seem very logical in more than one sense, there are mixed reactions around their country. A few objections to the implementation are the addition cost for parents and a delay in the joining of the work force for young adults. Elizabeth says that play in the early childhood programs and progressive philosophy have been very hard to sell in her country due to most Filipinos think that as far as reading the earlier the better. They even have a large amount of children entering reading and math programs starting at the age of 2. Which the theories for these actions of her country is that they will encourage your child to read by the age of three.
Learning this information from Elizabeth was eye opening. I truly never thought about other countries not continuing required education through the 10th grade, but it does make me understand why a lot of foreign country graduates are younger than most American graduates. Also the notion and ideas to start children reading and doing math at an early age is similar to our Pre-K program, but at such an early age, it puts more responsibility on the parents which I also think is excellent. If there are more people caring for a child’s education, it will make a huge difference in their development. I like these international conversations, because they give me the opportunity to think beyond just the information I know about. It will help me become not just a better teacher but a more rounded person. Really puts my life into perspectives.
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