Steve is on (to) something

A pdf version of the letter can be found in the following link, for those who prefer to read it that way. It’s better formatted and is passed around easier! Open Letter

[Update: If you've read the open letter, you might want to check out ilovescihi.wordpress.com]

—–

An Open Letter to the Student Body, Administration, and Community
of Cebu City National Science High School

Dear friends,

Just recently, I read an email being circulated around the Internet containing a list of complaints regarding CCNSHS. All this talk of a delinquent transferee remarkably unchastised, the increase in student population without commensurate expansion of facilities, the teachers’ apparently hostile stance towards the administration, and especially the tone of frustration with which the student described the “magic” happening to students’ grades. The fact, though, that this is nothing new makes it all the sadder because it seems that instead of the faults (we had seen in Science High in our day) disappearing, they have become worse.

More distressing is the fact that this mess could have been avoided if the school administration had been true to its duty as a public institution. As a public entity, Sci-Hi is obliged to disclose information regarding its operations to the public, which includes the students. But what has been happening is otherwise, with students being kept in the dark about the rationale of school decisions and policies. From the day I first set foot on the school grounds to the day I graduated, never have I been treated as more than just another child to educate. It seems that the school has rejected the student body as a possible source for solutions to these problems. What the school has forgotten is that though we may be students during class hours, we are thinking persons for the whole day.

The school has forgotten that it is our right to be informed about the way the school works. If indeed the school wishes to form patriotic citizens who participate in national issues, it would be good to start them young, inculcating students with a sense that they have a say in national matters – especially those that concern them, starting first and foremost, with school issues. Proper information also rids us of the problem of misinformed rumors that only create more confusion and complicate matters.

The school, though it constantly reminds us that it is our duty to serve the nation, works against the very thing that it teaches us. We students are able to contribute to nation building beyond being a good student (granting but not conceding here that a mindless intellectual is the definition of a good student), so why limit us? There was a great many things my fellow students and I could do to improve CCNSHS, yet every step of the way, we were left out of the process, told only “You are students, just study,” as if our being students meant we should just concentrate on our books and ignore the failings we could see around us. We had questions, and we may have had the answers, but our voices were never heard, because we were merely students. It is unfairly subjective to disapprove of our opinions outright, on the ground that we are merely students. If students could have a real voice in the school, if there could be a more open culture in the sense that students’ ideas would be valued, we could have a better Sci-Hi.

I dearly hope the administration of the school sees current events as the indicators of discontent that they really are. I pray that our elders will see through the colored lens of our culture’s underestimating the capability of the youth (yes, despite saying that we believe Rizal when he said ‘the youth is the future of the nation’, we do belittle our youth) and see that the youth has so much to contribute if only the school considers us as partners in our education, and not just brains to fill with facts and figures. Fr. Roche, SJ, one of the pillars of the Ateneo, said to students: “You did not come to a Jesuit school to receive an education (emphasis his)…you did come to educate yourself.” Though we may be a public school, I believe that the same philosophy should apply if we are to properly mold the people on whose shoulders the future rests.

Venerable as it is, I hope my alma mater is also brave enough to take up this new challenge and lift its students out of intellectual belittling. There is a way for our public education to be better and I will be proud to see CCNSHS light that way.

Sincerely,
Steve Andrew Ladan, CCNSHS ‘05

—

The Email:

guys, here are some observations of the alumni regarding our school of late:

hi!

i got this from a batchmate [B'06] who spoke to someone from a
higher batch..
if anyone would like to clarify the following, please go over to sci
hi nalang, if you have time..

notes:
- maam chin told us that sections were added because the Department
wanted a “wider selection” of kids with “higher education”. [fine]
- why isn’t there proper screening and elimination anymore? this
deems unfair, especially for the batchmates that could have been..
- transferees? our first batch was the first to welcome a
transferee. it wasn’t clarified out right exactly WHY she was
accepted. [she came from STEC in lapu lapu, passed the Sci Hi
entrance test pag.first year, and her grades were up to par... so i
think that that's ok.. right?]
but what about the other batches..?

hmm. oh well. this is for your own consumption.

what can we do about this?

[sharing]: when i was four years old, most of my mum’s immediate
family predicted that i’d end up in sci hi.. and 8 years after that,
i was very happy that i did.. im pretty sad to say that i’m not as
sure as they were, if and when my own time comes to have kids..

hai.

God bless!

> > alarming au ni sa atong BELOVED ALMA
> > MATER…hihi
> >
> >
> > save sci hi oust maam chin
> >
> > im usually apathetic on matters such as this but i
> > just went there
> > yesterday and there have been quite a number of
> > changes that shocked
> > me..
> >
> > have you heard of sections neptune and
> averrhoa?
> > yep there are five sections na sa first year and
> 2nd
> > year.. i wonder
> > which noble gas and scientist they’ll be coming
> up
> > with the following
> > years..
> > i asked one of the teachers ngano ingani na
> > situation and he said,
> > gituyo siguro na ni maam chin para mahimo
> > siyang principal II..
> >
> > another teacher i spoke with told me na wa na
> > gyud naeliminate ever..
> > bisag hagbong jud kuno sa iyang class..
> mamagic
> > ra daw didto sa admin
> >
> > and get this.. mudawat na ang admin ug
> > transferees! !!!
> >
> > grabe man kayo ka itoy itoy si maam chin daw
> sa
> > pta and parents in
> > general.. parents na daw nagpatakbo sa school
> >
> > Hahay… Ingon sila mga teachers na daghan na
> > kuno kau bogo sa scihi.
> > kay walay tarong na ang screening.. daghan
> > palutson. Mao na napul-an
> > na sila sa pamaagi ni chin ug nanglarga ug
> > manglarga na ang kadaghanan
> > sa atong mga teachers before..> >
> > sa pulong pa ni maam labajo.. its just another
> > ordinary public high
> > school.. pero daghan lang dato nga bata..

>

hi dea,

yes, the developments that you mentioned are quite alarming. i don’t think the current facilities & mentor skills in scihi are adequate enough to support a bigger student population. and, if it’s true that the screening process has been compromised, this should be a very important cause for concern. it’s so disheartening to note that just when we have a formal alumni association already, we are starting to feel less proud of our alma matter. i sure hope steps can still be taken to halt this downhill path that our beloved scihi has taken. the morale of those among the student population who strive to do their best to live up to what the ideal standards of a “national science high school” should be may be affected also if there are others in their midst who do not deserve to be where they are.
please keep us updated. thanks.

rowena burden (‘81)

[Update: If you've read the open letter, you might want to check out ilovescihi.wordpress.com]