A well-educated citizenry is an economic and social necessity”

This posting is a reprint from two years ago, given our penchant for quick fixes, i.e., education is not one of those that we can sweep under the carpet. It demands painstaking efforts founded on foresight. In other words, if we are to be a developed nation and economy, we must have an educated citizenry.

Before we get to the title of the posting, let’s step back and address “quick fixes.” Quick fixes are like interventions that we do “today,” for example. Yet, some challenges face us “tomorrow,” i.e., what we do today is akin to a “band-aid.” Worse, it can undermine the future and why there is a perfect storm. A classic example is the Philippines, i.e., we are the regional laggard. 

We cannot “quick-fix” infrastructure development. Likewise, we can’t do it with industrialization nor with innovation as well as global competitiveness. We cannot be a developed, wealthy nation if quick fixes are our primary tools. Even the technology that is big data demands foresight, as confirmed by McKinsey & Company; otherwise, we can take the wrong turn at the fork.

In other words, “A well-educated citizenry is an economic and social necessity.”

That’s a quote from the McKinsey & Company, Social Sector Report of September 2017: “How to improve student educational outcomes: New insights from data analytics,” Mona Mourshed, Marc Krawitz, and Emma Dorn.

“Policymakers, educators, and parents all over the world want students to understand and be able to apply their knowledge of math, reading, and science. Yet improving educational outcomes has proved elusive.”

In the case of the Philippines, we leaped to K-12. But is that it? The McKinsey report presents these two findings: (1) Having the right mindsets matters much more than socioeconomic background; (2) Students who receive a blend of teacher-directed and inquiry-based instruction have the best outcomes.

“Students with a ‘growth mindset’ — those who believe they can succeed if they work hard—performed 9 to 17 percent better than those with a ‘fixed mindset’— those who believe their capabilities are static.

“There are two dominant types of teaching practices. The first is ‘teacher-directed instruction,’ in which the teacher explains and demonstrates ideas, considers questions and leads classroom discussions. The second is ‘inquiry-based teaching,’ in which students are given a more prominent role in their learning—for example, by developing their hypotheses and experiments.”

Are we surprised we’re the regional laggard with its attendant poverty problems? Consider: We grew up “sheltered” and “fixated.” Sheltered and fixated? Think of our way of life: We are parochial and insular. We value hierarchy and paternalism and rely on political patronage and oligarchy that ours is a culture of impunity.

Compare that to these lessons from Malaysia: “The successful Malaysian rural development strategy through managed land schemes provides lessons for the Philippines. The rural poverty incidence in Malaysia was 1.6 percent in 2014, down from 58.7 percent in 1970. Compare these to the Philippines‘ 30 percent in 2015.

“The former Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak had espoused the use of modern plantation management for government land settlements to achieve high productivity and, in turn, reduce poverty. He advocated the idea of giving the best lands to those willing to work hard. There are six critical lessons:

“1. Crop choice is vital for long-term income sustainability. Malaysia started with rubber as the main crop and later changed to labor-saving and more profitable oil palm. Rice, an exception for food security, was managed on a mechanized estate basis; 2. Modern plantation management is key to achieving high productivity. Farm productivity in managed schemes must match that of commercial plantations; 3. Farm consolidation is crucial to achieving economies of scale in management pool, input supply, mechanization, and marketing; 4. The leadership focused on project implementation; 5. A professionalized civil service to draw project managers; 6. Commitment from the top is key to achieving results.

“The main project components were: (a) construction of irrigation canals and drains; (b) development of 6,400 ha of new land for rice irrigation; (c) rehabilitation of 3,700 ha of existing rice lands; (d) crop establishment of 8,400 ha of tree crops; (e) project main roads; and (f) palm oil mill.” [A visit to rural Malaysia, Rolando T. Dy, MAPPING THE FUTURE, inquirerdotnet, 11th Sep 2017]

In other words, it goes beyond giving small plots of land to farmers because landownership is the be-all and end-all – which is what PH land reform is. There must be leadership; there must be a sense of community and the common good. But without foresight, we would not be able to imagine how such large-scale endeavors can come into being.

Sheltered and fixated must be undone before we can even be in the game. Put another way, why did we deserve a Marcos, and today a Duterte? And tomorrow another Marcos?

Beyond the absence of foresight is our inability to benchmark our worldview against our neighbors. Perfection is not of this world. None of our neighbors were perfect. But they demonstrated how to figure out and traverse the journey from poverty to prosperity.

We don’t have a fighting chance. Like ideologues — i.e., we wear blinders, aka our instincts — we don’t truly problem-solve. Recall earlier posting re Procter & Gamble. These people were once upon a time best in class. Yet, they too can wear blinders. It’s called the arrogance of success. Or the law of humility in the laws of karma. 

The writer is sitting in his client’s office in Sofia, Bulgaria, as he writes. [As some would know, he came over to represent USAID as a volunteer, i.e., gratis. Does it explain why Trump is clueless about American exceptionalism? Or what about the Marshall Plan? But he’d rather be in bed with foreign oligarchy if not despots?] Over the last 14 years, these ex-socialists (that grew up under communist rule) have called him their friend. They understood from him how even in the West higher education has been criticized by industry. And progressive enterprises took matters into their own hands. And the writer was part of the effort in his old-MNC company.

And two key initiatives he has introduced to them are (a) the primacy of a growth mindset; and (b) a dynamic in-house education and training program.

In other words, that they should not be held back by being a loss, as opposed to a going concern during the eight years, they had been in business. And to instead imagine and visualize that they will be a 100-million-dollar enterprise. [And today they’re beyond that milestone, by a mile.] It’s the only way for them to compete and win against Western global behemoths that have landed on their tiny nation of 7 million and, as necessary, to thrive as their country joined the EU.

To learn the business, they assumed the writer was going to spoon-feed them with rules. And they were “outraged” [their word] that he did not. There are no rules, only principles. And while in the classroom, he would present critical theory inputs, the learning was mainly via group work designed to address specific business challenges. More to the point, they had to play a more prominent role in their education—for example, by developing their hypotheses and experiments.

Today they are well respected by these Western behemoths and have knocked on their doors a few times – offering to partner with them. If you can’t beat them, join them.

And to the writer’s surprise, his friends are not alone – in their journey to prosperity. In their hometown of 80,000, they have attained full employment, with unemployment down to 2%. A complete turnaround from the time – not long ago – when locals would migrate to Western Europe if not the US to earn decent wages.

Five Western enterprises realized the potential of their location – it is a mere 100km from the port of Varna via a well-built (read EU standard) highway – and erected manufacturing facilities. And the local government has done its part – putting up an economic development zone with all the requisite infrastructure and utilities, among others, to attract investment. It was a blow to the status quo. Once the writer’s friends had to wait months for the local government to approve the occupancy permit of a new production facility – delayed by the mandatory signature for their more significant power supply needs. It’s the kind of inefficiency cum tyranny they see as a carryover from the old communist regime when local commissars were the equivalent of local lords.

What a change. The new game for the writer’s friends is to be genuinely the preferred employer in their hometown – to ward off the competition for talent. And the writer could only smile. Like tech companies in Silicon Valley, they bus employees as far as 30km away as they widened their recruiting base beyond their town; and provide 5-star quality locker rooms to workers and fruits and beverages while at work. Wages? Up to as much as the 75th percentile in a universe that includes Western companies.

But let’s get back to PH. As the blog has pointed out, we can’t seem to shed off the reality that we are the mirror image of the status quo. The world will not wait for us to get our act together!

“39 countries worry about killings, i.e., a climate of impunity in the Philippines,” philstar.com, 29th Sep 2017. And they include countries that lived through the Soviet gulag system and knew impunity firsthand: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine.

[We Pinoys can commiserate with what these people lived through. We’re decades ahead of them in the pursuit of freedom and democracy. Consider this more recent news report: “When the USSR collapsed in 1991, institutions and economies collapsed as well in Ukraine and other Soviet republics. They were quickly taken over and plundered by kleptocrats and oligarchs building fortunes from the ruins of the former superpower.

“Amid a vacuum of good governance and political stability in its neighbors, Russia sought to reestablish itself as the center of power amid its former de facto empire. Putin’s ambition is to restore Russia’s influence, which would curtail the spread of liberal democracy.

“Reformers decided to build a free society; they no longer wanted an autocratic regime. In the meantime, several anti-corruption campaigners died in the hands of assassins, and death threats are common. And Russia was always dragging them back.

“One of the biggest donors to the anti-corruption campaign was USAID.” [“Ukraine fears Trump hold on aid exposed vulnerability in war with Russia,” Mac William Bishop, Mariana Henniger, Oksana Parafeniuk; NBC News, 30th Dec 2019]

The writer has friends in these countries that couldn’t believe how a proud Christian nation like the Philippines has descended to what they consider inhuman. And it explains why we deserved a Marcos, today a Duterte, and tomorrow another Marcos. 

Recall the community of nations respects the law that punishes crimes against humanity. It subordinates sovereignty claims. Does it reveal our confusion between leadership and tyranny?

Gising bayan!

May the New Year bring the Philippines and the Filipino people new dawn and be a prosperous one!

“Why independence, if the slaves of today will be the tyrants of tomorrow? Moreover, that they will be such is not to be doubted, for he who submits to tyranny loves it.” [We are ruled by Rizal’s ‘tyrants of tomorrow,’ Editorial, The Manila Times, 29th Dec 2015]

“Now I know why Paul dared to speak of ‘the curse of the law’ (Galatians 3:13). Law reigns and discernment is unnecessary, which means there is little growth or change in such people. When you do not grow, you remain an infant.” [Faith and Science, Open to Change, Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditation, 23rd Oct 2017]

“As a major component for the education and reorientation of our people, mainstream media – their reporters, writers, photographers, columnists, and editors – have an obligation to this country . . .” [Era of documented irrelevance: Mainstream media, critics and protesters, Homobono A. Adaza, The Manila Times, 25th Nov 2015]

“National prosperity is created, not inherited. It does not grow out of a country's natural endowments, its labor pool, its interest rates, or its currency’s value, as classical economics insists. [A] nation’s competitiveness depends on the capacity of its industry to innovate and upgrade.” [The Competitive Advantage of Nations, Michael E. Porter, Harvard Business Review, March–April 1990]

“You have to have a dream, whether big or small. Then plan, focus, work hard, and be very determined to achieve your goals.” [Henry Sy Sr., Chairman Emeritus and Founder, SM Group (1924 - 2019)]

“Learning and innovation go hand in hand. The arrogance of success is to think that what you did yesterday will be sufficient for tomorrow.” [William Pollard, 1911-1989, physicist-priest, Manhattan Project]

“Development [is informed by a people’s] worldview, cognitive capacity, values, moral development, self-identity, spirituality, and leadership . . .” [Frederic Laloux, Reinventing organizations, Nelson Parker, 2014]