Why Fuss Over a Rank?

Just yesterday, I browsed a blog site of a Filipina Mom blogger, Ms. Noemi Lardizabal-Dado (http://aboutmyrecovery.com/) and found a very interesting blog post of hers. I was thinking, should I leave a comment? But then I realized that my comment would be too long and I'm pretty sure that no one would care to read it (except for Ms. Dado, of course!).

math.hope.edu

For me, she's one great writer. Her blog entries are all interesting and informative as well. I really enjoy reading them. I just can't help myself to take a particular interest in one of her blog entry entitled: http://aboutmyrecovery.com/2006/10/26/top-500-worlds-best-universities/

Her post is about an opinion column of Mr. Michael Tan that discusses the state of education in the Philippines and the Top 500 World's Best Universities. She gave her unbiased discussion of the pros and cons of some local universities that were included in the rank. She based her criteria on personal experiences and factual information.

From the topic itself, my attention shifted to the commentaries that it garnered. And patiently, I went over to every single one of them.
I'm honestly impressed with how those people really took the time just to express their opinion. Talk about freedom of speech!


As much as I would want to avoid saying this but there are some comments that simply showed the immaturity of our graduates/citizens in general. It even brought confusion to some high school students whose aim is to seek intelligent and sound information about where to get a good college education.

The first comment that caught my eye is about a particular university in Manila that apparently has poor performance. Which then made me wonder if that person has attended that university. How can he/she give such an evaluation? At one point, I would like to look at it in a positive manner, poor =  yes, because even the poor people could afford to pursue education in that university. For the parents who has very little earnings, sending their son/daughter to that university means giving their offspring the best education there is, especially when they witness their children receive their college degree.

But even if I think their comments are all rightful in their respective judgment. I firmly believe we should not allow ourselves to be drawn on the numbers and ranking alone.

Instead, we should salute these local universities that landed a spot among the Top 500 World's Best Universities. We should look at them as one that represents our nation. These universities are all excellent in their corresponding field of expertise.

There are only 195 countries in the world (http://geography.about.com/cs/countries/a/numbercountries.htm) and coming a from a third world country, shouldn't we feel more proud that our own universities provide the best education there is?

If we examine closely, we can observe the increasing numbers of foreign students coming to our country to pursue their college education. Surprisingly, these foreigners came from a country where education is at par with that of the first world country. One reason for them to come here is because of cheaper education cost versus to what they have in their homeland. Can we conclude that it is their only reason for coming in the Philippines? I think not because we cannot fool them for they also know if what we offer here cannot compete globally.

I'm a just an average student who graduated from a public elementary school somewhere in the South, finished high school and college in a regular private university. And as part of my continuing education, I took my post-graduate diploma in professional education in one of the known university here in Metro Manila (mentioned in the Top 500 World's Best Universities). I also intend to take my master's degree in that same university.

It has been said many times that;
      education is a right, not a privilege
                education is for all and not just for the few who can pay.

Should we feel superior over the others because we are graduates of some famous university? Shouldn't we be thankful enough for having the opportunity to be educated?

The evident is just around us, many Filipino youths are in dire need of education.

school.discoveryeducation.co

There are many successful Filipinos both here and abroad who are very proficient in their own respective fields and yet they did not graduate from any of these best universities.

They are  successful because they are dedicated and diligent. They have earned the respect of others and those foreign nationalities not by merely showing off their diplomas.