How Filipino pupils learn best in public schools?

We need to feel safe in our public schools

To learn well as primary pupils, our teachers should never say anything to us that hurt us emotionally or do bad things to us physically. We should be allowed to make mistakes. We are kids and we surely keep making lots of mistakes. We should have an environment where we can freely share our thoughts and that our ideas will not be attacked or ridiculed. It is so scary whenever our teachers throw us those dagger looks, those cruel Filipino teacher's eyes that make us feel intimidated and uncared for. Our parents are oftentimes complaining to me about my poor performance in school but they are too scared themselves to go and talk to our teachers in public schools. Our parents are afraid that the teachers will single us out if parents talk about something with our teachers. Besides, in the public school system, you are often looked down when you complain because as poor people, we can not complain for studying in free public schools.

''Cruelty is more severe than coldness, but the results can be the same. Children need to feel safe and loved in order to explore the world around them and in order to learn to form healthy relationships. When children experience cruelty from their caretakers, the world ceases to "make sense" for them, and all areas of learning are affected - social, emotional, and intellectual development are hindered.''

-- Definition of Emotional Abuse: The National Center on Child Abuse

For us to succeed, excel or learn best in school, we should have teachers that we can trust.

We should not feel hungry in class

Many of my classmates who go with me to public school often attend classes missing breakfast. At times our parents miss waking up earlier enough to cook rice or prepare our "baons" and we just leave the house in a hurry with nothing or only a few "pan de sals" gobbled down our stomach. Imagine waking up at 4:30 Am so you could catch up your 6AM class. It's been difficult to adjust. It becomes difficult to think, or listen and focus on what the teacher is talking about. We often wished for the breaktime to come so we can eat something and refresh our brains. But the last time food was bought in school, a kind of stomach flu attacked us afterwards. It's now required more that parents should have to cook all of what young pupils eat during breaktime.

So, why we can not participate in class? Because many of us are hungry! (and are ashamed to admit it)

We need opportunities for fun

Filipino teachers mostly do not like students making noise in class at any time. Young pupils are often threatened to shut their mouth all throughout the class or else you will get humiliated, fined or throwned out of the class. I learned from my parents that they grew up also with the same old, traditional public school teachers who would never forgive you if you suddenly lost out your brain in space and laugh hard about something funny that crossed your mind. I came from a private school that allowed us some moments to learn also by playing. But in public schools, they do not like that idea.

We need more classrooms and better paid teachers

No wonder we now have generations of pupils who finished their primary and secondary education from public schools but learned nothing much. Our underpaid teachers will spend their teaching hours sermonizing. Because we are crowded and need to be shut up first, we waste so much time for the whole classroom to go soooo quiet first. Oftentimes, the teachers hardly ask us to read our books. But when we do read book, it gets confusing. Usually because our teachers use different textbooks. Then it becomes difficult for our parents to help track our lessons. Our teachers will teach a little and scold us a lot. But when they teach, they mostly look for the brightest pupils in class and then focus training those few promising students in order to send them to quiz bees. That way the teachers can bargain with the school principal how good they are in teaching their whole class because their pupils win in the competitions. I think those school quiz bees are crap. And then those of us who could not pick up the teacher's teaching style, we can just rot our brains out. But of course, not all of public school teachers are the same.

Maybe school principals should install video cameras in classrooms to see for themselves how well or how poor teachers mostly behave towards their pupils.

What do you think?