Thousands more Filipino college students graduate in March in the Philippines, while the Philippine unemployment rate rose to 11 percent in January as more Filipinos joined the labor force but did not find work. According to the National Statistics Office (NSO), an estimated 3.9 million Filipinos were jobless in January, compared to 3.6 million in the same month in 2003. EPA/DENNIS SABANGAN
Is the practice of wearing togas stopping younger Pinoys from dreaming big?
A neophyte lawmaker thinks so, as she moved that togas should not be worn by pre-school and elementary graduates and should be reserved for “major” educational achievements.
A Filipino kindergarten student looks for her parents during a graduation ceremony at the Assupmta Academy in Bulacan, central Philippines, Friday 19 March 2004.
“The toga is a symbol of triumph, achievement and status,” Sorsogon 1st District Rep. Evie Escudero said as she filed a bill limiting its use for high school and college.
Allowing grade school graduates to wear a toga, she said, “will give them false impression that finishing elementary school is already a major educational achievement.”
The practice of making pupils wear togas, she said, may contribute to what she referred to as the stunting of ambition among young Filipinos as well as their parents.
Data from the Education department website show that the number of enrollees in high school is less than half the number of young Pinoys enrolled in elementary schools.
In school year 2011-2012, the latest data in the DepEd website, elementary schools in the country reported some 14.4 enrollees while high schools only had 7.1 million students.
The government should help young Pinoys “understand that in order to have a fighting chance at success they need to at least finish secondary school,” Escudero said.
While noting that togas surely impose additional expenses for parents, she said: “We must instill ambition in our young and encourage them to strive for more education.”
“After all, in our highly competitive world, these have become the graduation rites of real significance,” Escudero said further.
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