I’ve written an open letter addressed to the scihi community. It focuses on advocating student empowerment as a solution to the worsening problems of our beloved alma mater. It’s on my blog. What problems, you ask?
1. Unprincipled leadership – Considered by most to be the most significant factor leading to dissatisfaction with the school. The students say that the present principal is unreasonable with the students yet grovels to the PTCA.
2. Dissatisfied faculty – Yes, no principal can claim to have a perfectly happy faculty. The situation is not as simple as that though. Many of the decent teachers and staff (those who really care about the students) dislike the principal and the way she has been handling the school.
3. Low student morale – Last school year, tradition was broken. A senior transferee was accepted. Not much of a problem for me, except that the student was a delinquent. Hello, screening process? Morale is also down due to #1 above.
4. Hocus pocus grades – Teachers complain that grades are manipulated at the admin office. Hopefully, this may not really be true, but still, grades are manipulated. Yes, this is commonly done, and yes, this is good for the student. But it still is bad.
5. Lack of engagement in learning – This, I personally felt during my stay at science high. I’m sure many other students have felt this too. And you may not say that we were just uninterested in learning because we were. The lessons just were not engaging. How engaging can memorizing facts and figures get?
Anyone got other complaints?
3 December 2006 at 4:28 pm
not only the admin people are manipulating the grades… but some of the teachers do this when a parent approaches the teacher… or maybe after a teacher ask for something from the student (material things)… despite all these, im proud that there are still teachers who do their job honestly and wholeheartedly..
3 December 2006 at 4:36 pm
I think that is why the principal feels much of her power is because of some parents who seem to make her a puppet and sustains her very strength…. Not to mention her apparently strong alliance with the division schools superintendent.
3 December 2006 at 5:34 pm
We’ve discussed those matters in our forum. I really thought being an alumni or a graduate from sci-hi would make you proud, but then it turned out that I’m greatly embarassed whenever I’ll tell my recent classmates the name of my former alma matter. They really thought that sci-hi is really a great wow amazing super di ma reach na school, they don’t know that the students from sci hi are lab rats from a research teacher principal named Mrs. Chin. I really don’t understand why she used so many curriculum and stuff. Like what happened to the first years, I’ve heard that 2 sections used a different curriculum and the other 3 used another curriculum. Students were not pressured because of the lessons but because of the principal who keeps on nagging and nagging students telling them to pursue perfection in academic excellence and blah blah. Yet in fact, the grades of the students can magically change right then and there in front of the parents who complained. I’ve heard that there was once a parent who complained about the grades of his son and threatened the admin. Mrs. (someone in the admin) got nervous and instantly changed the 79 grade in the card into 80 right in front of the parent with out telling the subject teacher about the changes. So what’s the purpose of the motto ‘Pursuing perfection in academic excellence’?
Such a disgrace.
3 December 2006 at 7:54 pm
Scihi already had this disease even during my time. Problem is, it’s now worse. maybe- and in this case, my maybe’s not a maybe- the government’s the culprit. Maybe, its just natural institutional decay. MAYBE, it’s the admin’s and the students’ fault. But whatever is the case, the only possible remedy that I see is that if every single entity in our school is reminded of what Scihi originally stood for and is willing enough to trash anything that goes against it. If the teachers will try not to falter in their moral and professional judgment. If the students themselves ceased to merely backbite but act, and not be kitties hiding in the back of their almighty parents but petition for change.
I mean, no one’s going to hocus-pocus their grades if they don’t ask for it. No’s going to be an overpowering parent if junior doesn’t ask for it. AND, no one’s going to play you for fools and let the whole system rot before your very own eyes if you don’t let them. I apologize for not even attempting to cure the system when I was still there. But there’s no good reason that you’d escape being sorry as well. Mind you, my 2nd year Biology class in Scihi and its not being, uhmmm, at par with other schools’ Bio still haunts me now. Imagine what your college life would be like if you look back and see that you really haven’t learned anything important.
I once promised myself that I would jump the then unfinished Osmena Tower if ever i failed to enter Scihi or if ever I’m expelled. I guess no one’s that anxious now.
3 December 2006 at 8:14 pm
these problems are truly occuring in our school at the present.
some of the rules set by the principal are not agreeable. like the “no crossing the oval” rule. its not even a part of the flag code! i suggest that if you want to make the surroundings of the school appear nicer, you should just explain to the students so that they will know the cause and respect the rules. i can also say that it is true that the principal is a puppet of the PTCA, especially this year. switching sides is also a problem of the administration at the present. in my opinion, rebellion of the students only occur because the rules are too tight. they dont even ask the students of what they really think. if someone speaks up and the idea is not pleasant for them, then the idea is completely set aside. i hate the walls that are being put up in our school. it makes the school more unnoticeable. it feels like a prison cell. if the students are permitted to go outside the campus during class hours, then there should be enough facilities in our school like photocopying machines and fast printers. i have also heard in the past that the load of the students will decrease because of the 0-100 grading system. i have not felt the decreased load but instead, more hectic schedules are now followed. students should not always be pressured in exceeding excellence because people do not work well under pressure. when there is an important activity coming up, the students should be given enough time for preparation. teachers should not compete with eavh other especially when it comes to passing projects and requirements. they should realize that their subject is not the only one that the students are taking up. what’s the point of setting rules if the one who made them does not follow it?
even in there are so many problems in our school right now, i could stil say that science high is truly a very memorable place. i really love the people (friends-students and jamming teachers). without them, life would be worse than bad.
3 December 2006 at 8:31 pm
When I was a student at Scihi, most of the faculty and staff shared the original vision of the school. Some of them were even pioneer teachers, and some were products of scihi who came back to teach.
I guess what the school needs now is a patron with the same vision/ideals.
It’s hard for new staff/faculty to continue what the pioneers have started if they don’t have the same ideals and goals. I don’t blame them. At the rate they’re being paid, no wonder they sell stuff in class.
This school is a part of the public school system and it was only a matter of time that the disease that pervade the whole system. There was a disconnect when the new staff/faculty came in. This is not a generalization and I’m not pointing fingers, but there should have been someone who was part of the dream.
I only hope that majority of the students still have the hopes, dreams and ambition to succeed and enough drive to clean the tarnished image of our alma mater, and to someday come back and teach, and pass on to the younger generation the good that they learned from scihi.
Ok enough of that. So what can be done about it?
I don’t have an answer. I am from the outside looking in. First priority is to save the students from this downward spiral. How about a contest? Academic quiz of some sort – ala Jeopardy. This should be open to all students and not the hand-picked ones. Maybe the alumni foundation can sponsor this. Who knows maybe a local tv station can air it?
Just one suggestion.
3 December 2006 at 9:01 pm
personally, i believe that if you pressure a person to “academic perfection”, she’ll jump off to the nearest cliff… and the more the admin chokes us, the more we’ll end up shouting and complaining… i suggest that if mrs. chin can’t run the school in a clean and systematic way, she better step down from her position before she is the one ousted and would prove to be a bigger shame to her and the institution…
4 December 2006 at 9:11 am
well… yes.. problems are occuring in scihi. and yes.. the principal is not the best. but who is?
i personally think the pressure we go through in scihi is part of the training. in fact, i’d like to thank the pressure. although we complain about it, it’s for our good naman.. in the long run.
and yes, that IS mean na naay gipasulod sa scihi na dili taga-scihi. BUT dili raman usa ka tao ang gipasulod. however, siya ra ang senior na gipasulod. naa’y uban na naa sa second year.. they come from STEC.. ‘coz.. the same daw ang curriculum. dunno. that’s all i know about that.
dugay naman na ang magic grades.. nganong karon pa man mo ni complain?
naa na diay wall na gi-build sa scihi?? ka-lain.
and… yes.. we are not engaged in learning.. i know its not good, but it’s easier to do.. i think the teachers dont have the time to check our answers if it were not identification and stuff like that.
4 December 2006 at 12:48 pm
i truly believe in the hocus pocus grades ‘coz i myself experienced it…
i don’t really know why but maybe that teacher liked me or whatever. but i don’t really like her.
maybe for me, i got a high grade which i don’t think i deserved, but i felt bad for my fellow classmates whom she didn’t like. they got low grades even though they were really trying hard on her subject.
i was even there when i saw her change my grades from 90 to 94 with just one click!! amazing…
4 December 2006 at 3:20 pm
this site is indeed an avenue for you young minds. i was searching for the schools website, because i wanted to comment on the recently concluded event at sci hi, but instead i ended here, and i am happy coz i could state my opinion. going through all the different opinions stated here, indeed i would agree, sci hi has changed for the worst. not only on the so called “academic excellence” the principal is trying – trying very hard to inculcate in the minds of her students, but it’s values has also changed – and it was shown(not by students who were dismayed by the outcome of the results, but by the teachers who were “chosen” by the committee to judge) their annual family day. i was invited by my friend whose son was a first year student. it was a very boring day and was there until the end of the affair to witness the presentation of the different cheer dances and it’s judging. i don’t know how the organizing committee came up with their “judges” but for me it shouldn’t have been the case, why? because they ought to have invited credible persons to judge the much awaited presentation rather than handpicked teachers who might turn out to be bias, not to mention that they might be influenced by people/persons standing at their back representing a certain year level and was, as i saw it, was helping out making the decisions. sci hi is an institution and has made a name. i just could see my friend’s son(who is a bit of a rebel) rise against the people steering the school to its demise. rally on and regain the name sci hi stood for in the past years.
5 December 2006 at 10:39 am
what’s happening to scihi? i really don’t want to say too much on the status quo of the school, because the more i think about it, the more it gets depressing.
albeit its various shortcomings, scihi was a good school. maybe somewhat insufficient with the academics at times, but i found a lot of good friends there.
i just hope things will be fixed.
5 December 2006 at 12:15 pm
Calling all batch 2006 we should be the one to lay down all the cards coz we were the most victim s of the garapalang daya-an sa grades. We must come out into the open , yes those comments are true regarding one student that the teacher change her grades in Pilipino and worst of that the principal Mrs.Severina Chin called our SG pres. in her office asking Lloyd to give his extra-curricular points tothe said student anyway daw our classmate ranks high in academics but she lacks extra curricular points. My classmate didn’t do or say anything coz the principal herself is asking him. See ganun siya kagarapal walang hiya. Anyway I don’t have to be afraid of her anymore i’m already in college.
5 December 2006 at 1:56 pm
okay ra na tanan!!! pasagda-i na dagku sila grades, maski pag valedictorian na sila sa sci-hi, kita-on rana inig college og inig ngita trabaho. im just no body during my high school days in sci hi but asa naman to mga banggiitan kunohay sa sci hi sa among time.
ayaw lang gyud mo padala ana nilang Maam Chin, kaila ko ana nya. Na under ko ana nya before, ka experience sad ko sa ka garapal ana nya. one time naa mi project nya ang ako is dili computerize kay sa among time nihit pa kaau ang naay computer and dili pasasd inani ka availabe karon. ako grade kay gamay kaau maski na creative kaau to pagkabuhat and to think wlay sayop sa content. ang computerize nga project, naa sayop, daku pa kaau og grade compare sa ako. but wla ko nawad-an og hope kay i know deep inside im better than them.
and ako na na prove that i graduated cumlaude pag college, take 1 sa board exam and now working abroad in 1 of the biggest companies sa Forbes Magazine.
asa naman tong mga banggiitan nga studyante nila? naa nag call center. haaaay, sci hi grad nag call center, ka paka uwaw:D aw hinuon maau naman daan mo english at least gamit gyud nila ilang skills. ma proud ta ana if engr ka and nag work lang ka call center? think about it, kay moo mani ilang mga banggiitan nga studyante sa sci hi.
moo na, katong mga na biktama sa mga “karagarapal” sa faculty and admin sa sci hi, ayaw mo kawad-an og hope, tan-aw na as challenge sa imong self, i know daghan kaau ni nangahitabo, labi na if pobre lang ka, wlay kay ika datong sa admin. but di sad tanan faculty and admin mga garapal, si maam Chin, isa nana sya og si maam Yting. Maam Goyongco is good, same as maam Canindo.
nobody
5 December 2006 at 3:30 pm
wla ta ni skwela pra maka kuha ug grado..
ni skwela ta pra makat.on…
hinumdumi napai collej
5 December 2006 at 3:39 pm
kung magkagubut ang scihi
bisan lai klaro principal
bisan garebelde na ang mga maestra
bisan la nai klaro ang mga istudyante
bisan gimagic2x ra ang grado
bisan lai klaro ang pagtudlo
Okay ra
manggawas ra sd bitaw ng mga istudyante sa nasod..kai magnursing..mas dako nga problema BRAIN DRAIN
5 December 2006 at 7:16 pm
Heh. Pakauwaw lang, daghan kayong tao ni look up sa ato salig kay sci hi (“wow ka bright” and shit) pero pagka dysfunctional sa faculty. I heard ang ubang mga bag-ong teachers kay ganahan mangahawa nalang kay wa ganahi sa system sa school. Sayang raba, kay most of them mga maayohon raba. IMHO, some (if not most) of the old teachers here kay gitapul naman. And to top it all off, some students are delinquent, as you said earlier. Naa pa man intawn mas deserving kids who could’ve fill the slots sa mga wa nag tinarong.
5 December 2006 at 7:22 pm
@ampao: tinuod na about the teachers na gusto manghawa? wah! we should really plead with them to stay. ask them to work with us to improve the system, because we all dislike it diba?
@AOC: sakto ka, we come to school to learn, pero mura’g lisod kaayo maka-learn (ug academic stuff) sa scihi nu?
and about brain drain, yes it’s a bigger problem and if only there was something we could do about it, we would. pero layo pa man ta ana, diri sa ta sa scihi, nga matabangan jud nato.
5 December 2006 at 8:47 pm
waaaaaa…..
nagka.anam ug ka walay ayo ang sci hi
to say d least….
imagine….
daghan sa mga ni.aging incoming freshmen kay ni.backout kay giwarning sila daan sa amng 4mer skul kng unsa na kabati ang sci-hi….
5 December 2006 at 9:36 pm
May pa ika2g na ninyu… wa moi mabuhat kng puros lng mo sulti, mura sad mog CAT da.
Do wat u say please, tanaw sad mog samin panagsa mga pipz… gud luck.
5 February 2007 at 5:44 am
@Turtle: “Mind you, my 2nd year Biology class in Scihi and its not being, uhmmm, at par with other schools’ Bio still haunts me now. Imagine what your college life would be like if you look back and see that you really haven’t learned anything important. ”
Hi Turtle, were you under me when you took your 2nd biology?
19 May 2007 at 11:47 am
uhm, i know my post is a little bit late but, yes, sadly a lot of teachers (ang mga nindot ug competent pajud mostly) wants/or has already left the school. most of their reasons were something like “wa nay ayo ang mga remaining batches..” or “nagkabati najud ang scihi..”
i’ll miss them (ang mga teachers nga nanghawa) jud bitaw.
i’m lucky to have graduated already but, i still pity scihi for having deteriorated so much these past years.
oh by the way, i agree with the 5 problems you mentioned in your open letter especially problems 1, 3 and 4.
that’s all! *bow*
[hi sir bio!! hehe.. i miss bio class sa 2nd yr.. lingaw bya jd kaayo to siya.. =)]