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The Filipino culture prides itself in putting value on education. But a 2008 report by the National Filipino Student Study Group shows that the academic performance of FilAm students in public schools is anything but exemplary.
This alarming data covered a 10-month period of observing Filipino students in urban communities all over the United States.
The study found that many Filipino youth were unable to get better-paying, highly-skilled jobs because they did not get sufficient preparation for the workplace while in school; there is a lack of Filipino teachers, as well Filipino content in school curriculum; Filipino parents and community members are not active in local schools; and there is a low number of Filipinos going on to higher education.
Filipino students in San Francisco are particularly struggling. The California Standardized Test scores for public school students shows that Filipinos in the 6th, 7th, and 8th grades have the highest number of students performing below average among other Asian groups and Caucasians in English, Arts and Math. Close to half of Filipino students in the 9th to 11th grades fell under the basic and below basic categories on the Star Math Test.
This prodded the Philippine American Press Club USA (Northern California) to hold the second in a two-part discussion on the academic performance of young Filipinos through its quarterly Kapihan. “These are the future leaders of our community and it’s important for us to get to the bottom of this pressing issue and find ways to push for excellence among our youth,” says Charito Benipayo, chair of the PAPC Kapihan.
Speakers for the Kapihan include Oscar Penaranda, a retired Filipino teacher at Logan High School, Tracie Noriega, principal of Alvarado Elementary School, Zenaida Reyes, high school teacher of Alternative High School, Don Del Pilar, a retired elementary and middle-school counselor, Jerico Abanico, a graduate of Logan High School and now a student of California State University-East Bay and Pat Gacoscos, former school board member of Union City Unified School District. It will be held on September 26, 2009, Saturday.
Light refreshments will be served after the forum.
To confirm your attendance or for more information, please contact Esther Chavez (PAPC President) at (650) 991-5699 or esther.chavez@inquirerinc.net, Charito Benipayo (PAPC Chair) at (510) 301-4693 or cbenipayo@hotmail.com or Pep Vasquez (PAPC Vice-Chair) at (415) 516-7733 or prvasquez@aol.com.
The Philippine American Press Club-USA (Northern California) was founded in 1988 in Daly City and is composed of major Filipino-American publishers. PAPC holds the quarterly Kapihan as a venue to discuss pertinent issues affecting the Filipino community. Member publishers of PAPC include ABS-CBN, Ang Panahon, Asian Journal, FilAm Star, Filipinas Magazine, Filipino Gazette, Filipino Guardian, Filipino-American Radio Network, Inquirer.net, Manila Mail, Philippine Headlines, Philippine News, Philippines Today and The Islander Channel 38-Comcast Hayward.
