Dyslexia

                                          (image: parenta.com)

Ayang ayang na aman sab na mag top ta na ya na may nagbasa anhi! Reading for entertainment and information seems to be alien to the majority of Filipinos these days. When you are in airports waiting for your flight, you could either see the many talking loudly or playing/tinkering their android phones.

Among 79 participating countries and economies, the Philippines scored the lowest in reading comprehension in the 2018 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), according to the results released Dec. 3, 2019 (philstar.com).

PISA is a worldwide study by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) that examines students’ knowledge in reading, mathematics, and science.

This could be alarming since reading skills are included in the so-called “life skills”. In this age and time, it is of importance to read labels, follow written instruction and get necessary information out of printed materials. But the result of the PISA showed dismal result so with that of Mathematics and Science where Filipino landed second to the last.

Moreover, according to Chavez (2017), only 17 percent of all children surveyed by Scholastic reported having time to read a book of their choice at school daily. In a 2014 survey of just over 1,000 children ages 6 to 17, only 31 percent said they read a book for fun almost daily, down from 37 percent four years ago.

The Department of Education freely accepted the challenge presented by the data and the recent result. The system succeeded in the “access” part evidence of the overflowing number of enrollees in the schools. But the “quality” part seems to be left out. Adding to burden is the psychological confusion of the shift to the K-12 curriculum where the system is still in the adjustment period.

But what is the missing link?

The National Research Council (NRC), a group of experts convened to examine reading research and address the serious national problem of reading failure, concluded in their landmark report Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children (Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998) that most reading problems can be prevented by providing effective instruction and intervention in preschool and in the primary grades.

Yet, there are students who are in the high school who cannot read well. Is this the reason why learners are finding difficulties with worded problems and understanding Science concepts?

The NRC noted that for students to learn to read well they must a) understand how sounds are represented by print and be able to apply this understanding to read and spell words, b) practice reading enough to become fluent readers, c) learn new vocabulary words, and d) learn to self-monitor when reading to make sure what they read makes sense and to correct their own errors.

These competencies are being taught in the curriculum. But then again, the learners of today have different ecologies. They are being pushed to the 4^th Industrial Revolution and their way of life has drastically changed. Educators must understand Education 4.0 so that the learners will be taught HOW to learn not just WHAT to learn.

Denton (2017) mentions that effective reading teachers adapt their instruction, making changes designed to meet the needs of different students.

But the pressing question can be posed: Can a teacher who do not have the passion to read teach effective reading? Another reference point: What about those parents who do not see the value of reading? Can they automatically blame the school system where in fact they themselves do not instill good reading or study habits among their children?

Blaming and finding scapegoats could not find solutions. There is a need for both the school and the home to make literacy a way of life among the young. We might have moronic leaders in the future.