Heartening news, from the SONA – “President Marcos has challenged new Education Secretary Sonny Angara to ensure that the quality of education in the country improves as soon as possible.” 
(image from slideshare.net)

Betheena Unite says, “Marcos Challenges Angara: Improve PH Education ASAP” (22 July 2024, Manila Bulletin, mb.com.ph). That was in BBM’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) at the Batasang Pambansa on Monday:

Our (whole) system of education must be strategically calibrated to make sure that our youth are not only taught to become literate. But, it must also consciously develop them into problem-solvers, and into critical thinkers – hungry for success and ready for the future!

ASAP. That’s what I call a Thinking President: Hurray, BBM!

Now then, “problem-solvers” and “critical thinkers” – we can produce students like those if we follow the educational paradigm of Harvard professor Howard Gardner that he calls “Multiple Intelligences” (MI) with a list of 9, to which I have added 1, as follows:

1. Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence (“Body Smart”)
2. Creative Intelligence (“Thinking Smart”), added by FAH
3. Existential Intelligence (“Life Smart”)
4. Interpersonal Intelligence (“People Smart”)
5. Intrapersonal Intelligence (“Self Smart”)
6. Mathematical-Logical Intelligence (“Number/Reasoning Smart”)
7. Musical Intelligence (“Music Smart”)
8. Naturalist Intelligence (“Nature Smart”)
9. Spatial Intelligence (“Image Smart”)
10. Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence (“Word Smart”).

BBM should find the students he want in that list: “problem-solvers, critical thinkers” in any and all areas of intelligences, plural.

“Marcos Jr acknowledged that Filipino students have been lagging on several fronts compared to their foreign counterparts.” (I say never mind PISA!) I say let us teach intelligences from Grade School to Grad School.

"Digitalization and solar powered electricity must now become a standard in our classrooms. simply put, this is educational reform through technology."

Digital technology. I have enjoyed digital technology since the Internet came to the Philippines in 1991, that is, in the last 33 years.

MI is not new to the Philippines either.

ANN says, “The Habitos Wage A Silent Revolution In Laguna” (Author Not Named, 12 Nov 2001, philstar.com/business). Yes, the Habitos are Ciel & Pilar Habito, Ciel being the former NEDA head and now an esteemed columnist of the Inquirer.

"We are working towards the day when all students will be equipped with computers, smart TVs, essential programs, digital books and – once again – access to reliable power and the Internet."

Now then, BBM Sir, let the whole Philippines teach all those 10 intelligences – teachers first!

We must teach our students, from Grade School to Grad School, to discover and develop their own individual geniuses, called “Multiple Intelligences” by original thinker Harvard professor Gardner, called “Human/e Intelligences” by me to emphasize the adoption of multiple intelligences among the people as an answer to the proliferation of AI.

Why “Human/e Intelligences”? I want to emphasize that intelligences must be discovered, developed and exercised for the good of humanity!

The intelligence I added, “Creative Intelligence,” is anti-AI. Today, AI is being used to steal intelligent works from humans.@517