During a virtual Senate hearing earlier this month, senator Imee Marcos voiced her concern over schools and universities turning into online “diploma mills” as the education ministry moves towards distance learning.
“Very convenient excuse na bigay ang ng bigay ng diploma, automatic ang promotion, ‘di naman natin alam kung ano talaga ang tinapos ng bata dahil hindi nakakapag-monitor ang CHED,” Marcos clarifies.
She extends this by recommending that the Commission on Higher Education or CHED ensure that instructional materials to be used for distance learning are commensurate with educational standards.
And she is absolutely right.
Despite circumstances constraining educational institutions into adopting distance learning, they must still nonetheless provide ample assessments so as not to dilute a diploma’s merit, and to avoid consequent controversies wherein one’s educational background is questioned.
The senator would know — Marcos was previously embroiled in one after the University of the Philippines as well as Princeton University both refuted the senator’s claim that she was an alumna of both illustrious institutions. Here are the records to refresh our memory:
https://rappler.com/newsbreak/fact-check/imee-marcos-record-up-college-law-graduated-cum-laude
https://rappler.com/newsbreak/fact-check/false-imee-marcos-princeton-degree
She also opens up another crucial area for improvement. As the resumption of classes draws near, the state should exert every possible effort to supply both students and teachers with the tools to meet educational standards. This means providing the infrastructure, technological support, and mass testing to all people in order to mitigate any learning deficit among students participating in either distance learning or face-to-face learning.
