Education Under Pressure: Student Worries and Concerns
Education under pressure describes what many students of today are going through. The competition is tough. The expectations are high. The call to excel is strong. Through all this, the body and mind of students are starting to feel the burden and the exhaustion of studying.
The Family Legacy
Educational pressures with regards to continuing a family legacy have been existing for a long time. Children that come from a long line of doctors, lawyers, engineers, and other professions are expected to continue the tradition. For the longest time, it continues to be an unspoken pressure for children who may have differing interests, to follow the footsteps of their ancestors.
In spite of the much touted freedom of choice during these modern times, many parents hold on to their steel-clad professional ambitions for their children. Some have tried to strike a compromise by finishing two courses, one for the parents’ satisfaction and the other for the child’s. Obviously, this is not an option for everybody considering the expense and time element.
The Standards
Educational pressures with regards to maintaining specific standards in grades, awards and the school of choice have all been in the Filipino psyche for sometime. Children of parents who are graduates of prestigious schools are expected to follow suit. It will not be surprising for children of UP graduates for example to apply for the UP College Admission Test or UPCAT as early as the start of the senior year in high school in preparation for entering college. Admission tests of the three other leading universities in the Philippines namely Ateneo, UST, and La Salle are also much awaited .
Having parents and older siblings who graduated with exemplary honors can be very stressful to students. It has much to do with expectations of people more than anything else. Graduating with honors can also form part of a family legacy which children may feel required to achieve.
The Competition
The level of competition in school today is such that children need to be always one step ahead of their classmates in terms of accomplishments. To be competitive nowadays in school, the student needs to have well-rounded development. This would mean excellence in academics and active participation in extra-curricular activities. Gone are the days when the top honors is given to the student with the highest grade only. Today, students have to have high grades and be able to manifest excellence in other areas as well.
Some secondary schools are now able to provide advanced learning in technology, offer courses in foreign language, and rigid training in sports. All of these give the students advantage over the other students who came from schools that are not able to offer the same advantages. College application has become almost like applying for the first job – highly competitive.
Education Under Pressure
The demands of society and the world has increasingly put extraordinary pressure on students. Pressure can be good or bad. It can motivate students to do better but it can also drive them to early surrender when they are not helped along the way.
Educational pressure may come from family, school, community, and even society. It is evident however that the rigid requirements of employers today have much to do with the increasing pressure for more qualified graduates. This is also seen as a reaction to the current global outlook of the employment industry.
Financial pressure is also among the most real concerns of students with the high cost of education and living today. Even if parents are the ones primarily responsible for this, financial difficulties experienced by a family tend to affect the performance of students in school. The sense of urgency in being able to graduate to help the family cannot be denied.
My Say
When the K-12 system of education was introduced, I was one of those parents who felt burdened by the additional number of years. For children who have at least spent 3 years in pre-school plus the regular 6 years in elementary, 4 years in high school, and at least 4 years in college, the additional two years to me was not necessary. Quality over quantity I think best describes what I feel. I feel that the length of study adds to the pressure even more because it would seem that that it would take forever to finish studies. Still, I remain open to it and await the promised benefits of this system, if only for the sake of my children.
During my time, parents pretty much left alone children to study by themselves. In today’s parenting trends, parents need to be always present almost to the point of stage parenting. To do otherwise may be interpreted as lack of parental care and concern. Parents really want the best for their children so there is always the tendency to overdo this. I have yet to ask my children if this is adding to the pressure they must be feeling.
There is no mistaking that studying has to be taken seriously by students. Some pressure however has to be taken off from students without encouraging mediocrity. There needs to be a happy balance between studying and enjoying life. True education after all extends beyond classroom walls.
Tingting R.
as long as so-called high school graduates are deemed employable by companies, it is OK.
Teresa Martinez
That should be one of the advantages provided by the K-12 system.
Algene
I believe that balance is everything. There are some students who work under pressure while others do not kaya kailangan talaga in moderation lahat 🙂
Teresa Martinez
The need for moderation is true in all aspects of life. There should be a time for study and a time for play. When it is time to study however, it should be done in the best way possible.
Anna
I was not in favor of K-12 at first but later on understood and learned to appreciate it.
Teresa Martinez
Even if I do not personally favor K-12, I would like to see it work because my children are affected by it.
papaleng
I guess students of my generation are more pressured than students of today. Why? Modern technology is a big help eh. Then, we have to content ourselves going to libraries for research works. Have to deal with our Olivetti typewriters to have a hard copy of our works. Professors then were more strict when it comes to students school conduct. Now, may Google na and naging college prof din ako, so I see to it na pumasa ang student ko kasi mahal na tuition.
Teresa Martinez
I have to admit that maybe our generation had it harder when it comes to access to technology. What I see as difficult in this time of studying is the pressure to do so much at an early age.I literally have to restudy just to able to teach my grade 3 daughter because of their advanced lessons. We can only support them, ang mahal pa naman ng tuition.
lencilicious
I’m not a mother yet, but I understand you fully. During the times when I was still studying, I felt pressured because of my older sisters’ achievements. At some extent, I felt sad about it but still I’m glad because I finished my course as a regular student.
Teresa Martinez
I always say this to my own children: Do your best and I will not complain about the results but do nothing and you will not hear the end of it from me. I try to veer away from comparisons and putting ideas in their heads that will be equivalent to my career dreams for them. I myself have always been an average student but that hasn’t stopped us from trying other avenues of success, right?
jennyL
Those problems and worries of students can also affect their performance in school and not all students can handle pressure from family, peer, teachers, educational system etc.
San Josenyong Gala
It may seem like a pressure to the students but in the long run and after their studies, they will understand that the education system was designed and continues to be redesigned to keep up with today’s fast developments.
Teresa Martinez
A certain degree of pressure is always needed for learning but it has to be appropriate on the one it is being applied to. I have nothing against educational systems being constantly redesigned to adjust to current needs but it has to be done in a comprehensive manner, meaning that the logistics and the personnel are there to make it work. It is simply useless to dump additional requirements on students in the name of the K-12 system when schools and the government agencies concerned will not be able to do their part of the bargain which is essentially to make the system work in real life.
San Josenyong Gala
I agree with you on that ma’am. Infrastructure, utilities, enough budget and manpower, and a really better and useful curriculum should come hand in hand with these redesigns. I admire you ma’am for your in depth analysis… I’ll be proud to include your blog as one of my pick for the Top 10 most Influential Blog of 2013… 🙂
Teresa Martinez
Oh thanks very much. I wish your blog the best for this writing project.
kulasa
I echo you….learning has to be pleasurable for the young minds and as parents we need not be too protective of our children…personally I love my kids to learn the hard way so when I am no longer there they could survive on their own 🙂
Teresa Martinez
We should not be aiming to protect our children from all difficulties and challenges in life since they will never truly learn how to live life. I just feel that there is no need to put unnecessary additional pressure on them.
Nova
Today’s population is overwhelming no wonder why there’s so many competition in one single position. As a student the only way to aim that dreams and to be able to give our family a better life is to ensure we have education, not just to be educated but others aim to be more than excellency. So in order to have a better life we strive to work harder until we achieve it.
Teresa Martinez
There is no question about the need for excellence in education. In fact, it should be a standard in all aspects of life. However, there is a need to balance everything with the age of a child, their capabilities, and their understanding.
Chubskulit Rose
I so agree with you on quality versus quantity. I think that the Educational System there in our country is trying to catch up with other education system in other countries such as US.
Teresa Martinez
There is actually nothing bad in trying to catch up or even trying to replicate the educational system in the US but the government needs to make sure that we have the necessary requirements to make it work.
FashionTravels
my say is the government or may I say jobs now a days are asking for more or higher educational level or status which i guess very obvious that we are poor in education matters because of something I dont really know but im happy to see people surviving.
Teresa Martinez
Education should help people live a good life and not merely to survive. There are actually a lot of job positions to fill except that the educational attainment of job seekers do not fit the requirements.
MC
I can totally relate to this even though I temporarily stopped being a student. The line; “The competition is tough. The expectations are high. ” is soooo true!
Teresa Martinez
I see this very well in my own children.
mtrguanlao
I honestly don’t like the idea of adding more years for schooling, but what can we do?
I don’t force my daughter to study hard. I am just always here to support and help her from her studies. She always like studying with fun! And that’s what I want her to feel always, no pressure!
Teresa Martinez
Parents will always want the best for their children so the only thing that we can do is to support them and hope that they benefit from the expected advantage of the added years.
#TownExplorer | @edmaration.com
Very well-written post from a mommy like you 🙂
I go for the quality, you’re right mommy Tere.
And we should remove, as Filipinos, the mindset that what the ancestors have achieved should be achieved by the next generations too. I mean, children should get the education based on what they love, and parents are obliged to support them, no pressure. Because I believe that when we are being educated by the things we love, we will excel and be happy… and consider our work as a hobby. 2cents 🙂
Teresa Martinez
At the end of the day, there is really not much sense in forcing children to follow the footsteps of their parents against their will.
Franc Ramon
I think the pressure before was much more with parents being more rewarding because of easy access on technology and people’s tendency to give their children what they didn’t experience before. I’m still mixed on the plus 2 years in school but on the economic standpoint, it would eased up on the unemployment rate.
Teresa Martinez
Some food for thought here.
betchai
i am not against entirely the k-12 if the college system and admission will also make changes. like what franc ramon said, it will ease up on unemployment rate and not produce too many underemployed graduates which sadly we have a lot. however, the college system and admission should make changes as well, to allow those who are doing very well in high school and had been taking advanced classes to give them their due college credits. like most of our 1st year and 2nd year college subjects there, i was surprised when i had my transcript evaluation here in US, described as high school credits (like Algebra and Analytic Geometry, Chemistry and Physics- they were all not credited to me since they were deemed to be high school subjects). My Math classes that were translated to college units here started from Calculus onwards, and higher forms of Chemitry and Physics. Anyway, to cut my comment shorter, students here in high school who passed their AP Calculus, AP Chemistry, AP Physics, AP Biology, need not take Calculus anymore in college, but instead could proceed to the higher levels of Sciences (like Organic Chemistry or Biochemistry instead of repeating Chemistry again) required for their degree, which will allow them to finish college in less than 4 or 5 years than regular students. However, AP classes is not required to all high students, nor forced to any of them, it is an offering for more advanced college bound kids and really highly motivated, that way, students who are well deserving pay less tuition or no tuition at all in high school, compared to the very high tuition in college and could cut their years in college (cheaper). However, if our more deserving students there will still spend the same amount of years in college and still be required to take the same classes, I think I will also vote not in favor of K-12 there.
I do believe that students be allowed to explore more so that they will have a deeper understanding of what they really like to do that could also support them realistically. though I must say I belong to the kids who were not able to pursue my childhood dream because I chose (voluntarily, well, with somehow a little influence from my parents too) the path that would not be too expensive for my parents because there were more scholarships offered in Science and Engineering, but in the end, I am very happy my parents kind of guided me to my major because I ended up loving it so much.
Teresa Martinez
I am not against the K-12 system per se but I am not exactly sure if we have the system to make it work. I would be particularly looking into the promise that the additional two years will allow graduates to get gainful employment even without going into college.
edwin
k12 sucks… maraming magsuffer… we are not sure if the government provide jobs… then tgnan nio ang curriculum ha, lessened social sciences (?) eh mga ta*****do pla itong mga edukador na ito eh… gusto nila di aware ang graduates…oo na lang ng oo…