Enhancing the education of children

By Manolito V. Vitug

The formation of human qualities in children should go alongside the development of their academic competence.

The schools participate in the continued nurturing of these qualities and, in addition, they have the task of developing the social qualities of the students. Such other qualities include friendliness, cooperation, responsibility, sportsmanship, among other social qualities. These should be developed alongside the formation in the sciences and the arts.

In the real world, one can always hire and pay for the services of technically competent individuals. But one cannot pay somebody to possess good human qualities. Such qualities cannot be bought. They have to belong to the person who, over time, has acquired them. Therefore, a person who has a good balance of the human qualities and technical competence is the more complete person, a truly educated person. This should be the objective of especially early education. To achieve this objective, education should involve a close cooperation and partnership between parents/guardians and teachers, a partnership that will place alongside the formation of academic and technical competence, the development of the human qualities in children. It shall be the responsibility of the school district to develop a program that will put this objective into effect.