While technology is one of the things that may solve the problem, would you believe me if I said that one of the root causes of corruption is language or the inability to comprehend it?

One of my mother’s student’s researches in early elementary education hinted at this. She was conducting studies of math comprehension among 1st grade students.

She composed her test questions in English. She would diligently recite the instructions to the students in English. She initially claimed that the children did understand, simply because when she asked “Did you understand the instructions?” the response was “Yeeessss ma’am” and when she asked “Are there any questions?”, the students would say “Nooooo ma`am.” Sounds familiar?
As it turned out the children did not understand the instructions, and they certainly did not understand the question presented. A lot of them were just fidgeting, not knowing what to do. One of the students then approached the teacher and pestered her to tell him that his answer was correct.

Now because this is a research she wasn’t supposed to say if the answer was right or wrong, but because of the stubborness of the student she eventually gave in and said “yes.”

Immediately, the student walked back to his seat, and the other students crowded around him and copied the answer.

Yes we’re talking about first grade students in a public school who are learning how to cheat at the age of 7 or 8.
For fear of admitting that they did not understand English, the students resorted to cheating.

Now we know that cheating in the classroom leads on to other things or prepares the mindset to accept such things, don’t we?

Indeed when it comes to development: language is not the main issue, it is the economic structure. Just look at Japan, South Korea, and China — strong economies that are only learning English today.

It is high time for the Philippine economy to focus on technology-intensive manufacturing industry that would adress the problem of redistribution in the country, and would hence usher in the long-term goal of social development. This is the development strategy of the strong Asian economies such as China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, and the rest of the developed world. (Although I have reservations and contentions on the respective labour policies of these economies.)

Bonn
http://agoodgame.blogspot.com