Maligayang Buwan ng Wika sa lahat. Sa larangan ng administrasyon sa edukasyon, may magandang turo ang manunulat, pulitiko, dating pangulo ng isang pamantasan, at dating pangulo ng Senado, si Camilo Osias (kinilala siya sa US House of Representatives website kaya, para hindi kayo maiwan, kilalanin ninyo rin siya sa https://history.house.gov/People/Detail/19211). Ang turo niya sa “mga tagapagturo, guro, at pinuno ng edukasyon: tatlong gabay na prinsipyo.” (Osias, 1922)
Isang daang taon ang nakalipas, heto ang bahagi ng pahayag ni Osias sa pagtanggap sa isang tungkulin:
THREE MORE SPECIFIC GUIDING PRINCIPLES
“While it is true that the aim of education is the one great broad guiding principle in educational administration, it is necessary that more specific principles be formulated. Three specific principles I shall here mention as great guiding principles in educational administration. These are the principles of nationalism, the principle of democracy. and the principle of internationalism. I shall now briefly discuss these principles.
THE PRINCIPLE OF NATIONALISM
“In my labors in the field of education extending over a decade, I have steadfastly espoused the principle that our education contributes in full measure to the training of the youth of this country for a free, happy, and efficient citizenship in a self-governing Philippine state. I have at all times sought to deprecate whatever tended toward the denationalization of the people of these Islands and I have also consistently sought to foster whatever contributed to the strengthening of our national solidarity. I shall now seek to widen the scope of application of this principle and shall continue to combat men and institutions that alienate our boys and girls, our young men and women, from the noble traditions and sacred ideals of the Filipino people, for I believe in the principle of nationalism as a guide in educational administration.
“Educational institutions, public and private, must consecrate themselves to the principle of nationalism. Sane, disciplined, humanized patriotism will ever and always be a virtue. The modern conception of patriotism is contrary to the narrow, bigoted sectional feeling, on the one hand, and supra-nationalism, on the other. Time and again I have voiced the conviction that altho (sic) this is an age of internationalism, there is no concerted movement — there should be none — to eradicate or to weaken the feeling of nationality. The fact is that in every civilized country, people more than ever before are engaged in the intensification of their national spirit not only for the purpose of strengthening their national existence but for the purpose of laying a foundation upon which the superstructure of a new humanity shall rest.
“The people of this country clamor, and rightly, for the teaching of dynamic Filipinism and for more things Philippine thru the agency of our educational and educative institutions. The people expect, and justly, that Filipino children imbibe in their youth the spirit that moved our historic martyrs and heroes. Leaders exact educational results which shall safeguard our national welfare, further our prosperity, and increase our happiness. Forward looking men and women desire administrators to utilize education for the cultivation of a deeper sense of civic responsibility and a more intelligent and tolerant patriotism.
“The nationalization of our education is by no means an anti-foreign movement. It is not an expression of antagonism for anything that is not indigenous in the country. It is not an exclusivist tendency. It does not mean a discarding of subject matter and method of education which is not distinctly local. It is not an ungovernable tendency on the part of the Filipinos to seek office or post regardless of merit. And certainly, it does not mean a sacrifice of efficiency at the altar of narrow and superficial nationalism.
“Proper nationalization means intellectual charity toward the universal. It is increased knowledge of, and love for, the Philippines and for things Philippine without prejudice against the good that is foreign. Sane Filipinization seeks the best that is foreign and grafts it on the best that is Philippine. This principle applied to education seeks a re-definition of Filipino character and analysis of it in terms of our virtues and our weaknesses.” (The National Forum, Vol. 1, No. 1, July 1922, pp. 10-11)
Itutuloy ko ang sumunod na bahagi ng ekspertong opinyon ni Osias sa susunod na Miyerkules, ngunit nais ko ngayong idiin ang nabanggit batay sa aking pagkakaunawa. Mahalagang balansehin ng mga Pilipino — gayundin ang lahat ng tao sa mundo — ang pagmamahal sa Pilipinas at pakikipagkaisa sa lahat ng mga bansa. Tayo ba’y hindi pa nagiging makasarili sa ating mga mithiin sa bansa kung may kapalit na paghamak sa mga mamamayan ng ibang bansa? Habang sinusubukan nating hanapan ng sagot ang tanong na iyan, patuloy tayo sa pagpapaaral sa ating mga anak at apo na hindi naman din ganoong kadali dahil sa mga hamon ng pagkabansa at alitan ng mga bansa.
Noon pa man, marami nang mga bansa ang nag-aral ng ating sistema sa edukasyon na hindi na rin lingid sa kaalaman ng matalinong Pilipinong si Osias at sinaliksik din niya ang mga iyon. Noon, ngayon, at bukas, mahalagang sikapin ng sektor ng edukasyon sa Pilipinas ang pagpapalabas ng kahulugan o makabagong kahulugan ng katangian ng lahi nila Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio, Ninoy Aquino, atbp. Maraming kahinaan, ngunit may pag-asang titindig sa katwiran kung bakit dapat manatili tayong umiibig sa bansa at habang ginagawa natin ito, kung paano rin natin dapat harapin ang mga hamon sa labas ng bansa.
