For the past two years, I’ve been hiding the fact that I’m a college dropout. I was an incoming 2nd-year Computer Science shiftee at the University of the Philippines VTC when I decided to stop. I know that this article would raise a lot of eyebrows, questions, and pitchforks ( hopefully none ). But, here I am: still not a founder of a unicorn company.

A little disclaimer. My take on this would be according to my personal experiences before I decided to drop out. These are my sentiments and perception of things.

𝗜. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺

The pandemic got me into a depressive state. For three months, I barely ate and did intense 2-shift workouts. I believe I was at the lowest point of my life. With so much time alone, My mind began to wander and question things.

This feeling was amplified by how unsatisfied I was with the education system; as a whole, not just with UP but the entire education body in the Philippines. They weren’t ready for a catastrophe of this magnitude. It was further exposed by the number of dropouts in late 2020, which skyrocketed to more than 2 million students

2 million isn’t just a number; It’s a signal for change.

𝗜𝗜. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗺 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗺.

During the first half of the pandemic and the resumption of classes, I was excited at the same time anxious as to how online learning would pan out. I had internet access, a laptop, and most of the things I needed for school were within reach. In the beginning, I never really gave thoughts to the gravity of the situation. I was just concerned about my own learning experience.

But then, it dawned on me - that I was not the only one suffering, I was just privileged enough to learn and sustain this kind of setup, that I was also as responsible and accountable for my peer’s education as they’re responsible and accountable of their own. I knew then that learning wasn’t supposed to be done in isolation. It was not meant or designed to.

It was around this moment that I realized , this is not working, not for me and certainly not for everyone else. The focus shifted from learning and mastery to completion and satisfaction of deadlines and requirements. Short period breaks weren’t really helpful at all due to the lack of consideration of other aspects other than physical break. Backlogs piling up as more tasks are shoved down our throats. It got pretty dim as the passion fueling the fire slowly burned out. We got burnt out.

Learning from the screen felt more of a chore than an innovation.

𝗜𝗜𝗜. 𝗥𝗼𝗼𝘁

Just to be clear, I don’t blame all the teachers and staff, they are also victims of these unfortunate circumstances. Although, the chronic degradation of our education system affected some and has taken a toll on them - resulting in a “hostile” experience for us, magnifying the effects of the worsening situation.

These are the top 3 reasons that I think contributed significantly to why our education system is the way it is now.

1. Ineffective re-evaluation

I don’t know if there are re-evaluation systems in place and if there are, I hope they re-evaluate this as well. Most of our curriculums are re-evaluated once every 5 years or so. I am aware that there are a lot of checks to be done before an overhaul or any adjustments can be made. However, I don’t know if the bureaucracy of this process would still satisfy the demand of our time, considering that we already live in a fast-paced, information-driven world.

The notion: that “the things you learn in school are different from the real thing” is still prevalent today. From my perspective, this means there’s an obvious dissonance between school and work knowledge, which doesn’t make sense because we are expected and advertised to be job-ready after college.

These re-evaluation systems are supposed to close the gaps and prevent the wasting of valuable resources, especially a generation of learners.

2. Pedagogy

We are used to learning in a homogenous environment where everyone is treated equally ( most of the time ) and taught in a more or less uniform fashion. While this is not inherently bad, this setup causes a lot of injustices in the background. For one, as much as education should be equal for all students, we should also realize that it must be equitable as well.

The problem with uniformity in a homogenous environment is the lack of bandwidth for students that needs more attention. We call our classes homogenous but the sad reality points us to the fact that every student/individual has varying levels of comprehension. What works for one might not work well for the others. As such, it is only reasonable for us to treat different students based on their needs, dictated by the actual guidance they need and not by limiting quotas or deadlines. A detailed article explaining a great alternative to the uniform, factory-based learning approach which is mastery-based learning can be found here

3. Unnecessary workload and extended responsibilities of teachers

Teaching is already an energy-intensive activity, which drains an individual in all aspects of his/her being. Yet, we continue to burden our teachers with unnecessary paperwork beyond what they are ( should ) expected to do. A study concludes, that this paperwork causes a lot of stress to our educators. This would sometimes result in a compromise in the quality of education.

I admire educators that go the extra mile and use money out of their own pockets for their students, these people are truly an inspiration to me. But, for institutions to capitalize and see this as something that could cut their cost is just ridiculous. Passion in this industry is everything; and if you suck their fuel empty, it would not run itself.

I hope, that in the future, people would realize that the biggest sector that generates a lot of money comes from our education system, It is responsible for creating more talents in the workforce, more entrepreneurs, innovators, and people that are valuable members of our community.

Let them focus on what they’re good at and invest in things that make it easy for them to do so and see the effect ripple.

𝗜𝗩. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘂𝘁.

Dropping out is not a laughing matter nor do I consider it a badge of honor. I see it as more of a crippling problem hindering individuals to attain a natural progression in their careers. It leads to a lot of unnecessary hurdles and improvisation leading to insecurities and mental health issues.

In my case, I didn’t drop out to stop learning, I dropped out to learn more. I expanded my horizon by holding myself accountable for what I should learn. I had to compensate for the fact that I dropped out by spending more hours studying, this would often manifest in an 18-hour learning day. It felt like putting a huge hose in my mouth.

I got to a point where I was able to get a job out of the things I learned on my own. While I feel happy about my achievements, I still sometimes curl up in a ball and just think about my decisions, wondering if I got it right or if I’ve wasted an opportunity to graduate from a prestigious school.

Dropping out is not a magic spell that immediately hands you a job or anything you thought you might get out of it. It’s a metal ball chain wrapped around your ankle, and although you can still walk the same path any non-dropout could, it would mean that you have to do two times or more the effort they’re exerting, trying to compensate for what you’ve lost from dropping out.

It makes me sick thinking about how it affects my family more than me. It makes me sick, thinking about the stigma around it, blaming students instead of trying to correct the system.

After all, a sheep separated from the pack is not lost if herded back.