Very proudly but in all humility, my school is considered one prestigious elementary school. San Isidro Elementary School in Iriga City (Camarines Sur) in Region V holds the honor as the only Pilot School for Science and Mathematics in Southern Luzon. It is also an accredited school by the Department of Education as weighed by the Accreditation Program for Public Elementary Schools (APPES). The accreditation was based on five components, namely: General Instruction, Staff, School Head, Physical Facilities and Community Involvement. Our school is likewise rated by the DepEd as one of the top most effective schools in Bicol Region.
Must it still catch somebody one by surprise if I say that many of our female elementary school teachers do not marry. (But marry, I did). They could be the best looking, most responsible female and the prize catch for any male but they incidentally (unfortunately?) they fall in love not with a homo sapiens but with their profession and instead of raising a family of two or three children, they end up raising one whole class of fifty kids or even more. This is the challenge to the schoolmarms. This is the same that has made them "heroes" because the elementary school teacher is not just a teacher. She (permit me to use the feminine gender since the accepted fact that the teaching profession is dominated by women) is a community leader, a confidante, a friend, a parent, a counselor but above all, a very respectable citizen of the republic.
The elementary teachers are strong pillars in our country. There should not be doubts about this. At all times, they can be counted on. Needless they say, to them, our schoolchildren are entrusted. They set the foundation of education.
Very recently, the answer of my school to the former Secretary of Education Florencio Abad’s Brigada Eskwela program was astonishing. Together, we, the teachers, moved our community to get involved. Soon, the community deputized itself. The parents came with paints and nails and hammers and what – have you and soon the rooms were painted, the school had a new face, the lawn trimmed and landscaped and all these, the community did in the spirit of volunteerism… gratis et amore. I was prompted to get a volunteer’s feedback… "Very fulfilling. Now I realize that sending a child to the public school is not just a teacher’s responsibility and government’s concern. It is ours, the parents, the whole community. I feel good." Thus, one parent exclaimed.
Today, when times are hard, the teachers face the challenge of making education responsive to the needs of the country. Are our young people being educated to qualify them for jobs outside the country? Are our children being educated to have little love of our country because there is no promise of a bright future?
Sad to say, but the teaching profession is not financially rewarding. The pay of an elementary teacher would not suffice to keep a family live in comfort. And there is so much bickering among our government officials, each of them with a vested interest, leaving little or no time at all to consider Juan de la Cruz and his sad plight. It is no wonder that many teachers have left for jobs abroad even as domestics. And the influx continues.
The teacher is the hope of the land. This, I like to make all the teachers in the land accept and put to mind. She can be counted upon when others have left. She is a shoulder, a heart, and a mind rolled into one. I guess this is what makes the difference between a teacher and a government official. To the teacher, work comes in first, last, and in between. Being with the public elementary school for a good number of years can make me say in all honesty, that the elementary school teacher is a very important component of Philippine society.
