How to teach schoolchildren about political dynasties

For many decades now, politicians with the same surnames and middle names have lorded it over local government units (LGUs).

According to a study, the 10 poorest provinces in the Philippines are ruled by political dynasties. These provinces “are afflicted by low levels of human development, bad governance, violence, and poor business climates.”

The study noted the positive relationship between poverty incidence and the proportion of political dynasties in each province. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines meanwhile believes that “political dynasties breed corruption and ineptitude, because political power is monopolized by political dynasties.” Add to this the reality that political dynasties wield economic dominance in the LGUs.

At present, all is quiet on the opposition front, so to speak. It is unfortunate that it seems to have run out of options on how to quell the rising tide of political dynasties that will soon inundate the Philippine political landscape. Unless something systemic is done, no matter how long it takes, the future of Philippine politics is dynastic.

But I believe two concepts for planning used mainly in development work will help resolve the long-running problem of people being influenced by political dynasties. Not to mention disinformation because fake news is spread to favor political dynasties during elections.

Advocating for the mainstreaming of the concepts of “Hierarchy of Objectives” and “Results Chain” in the school curriculum is viable and doable to fight off political dynasties and disinformation. The Hierarchy of Objectives is a concept that outlines the levels of objectives in a development project, ranging from goals (the highest level) to objectives, outputs, and activities (the lowest level). The Results Chain, on the other hand, describes the trajectory or chain of results starting from inputs, to outputs, outcomes, and impact (the highest level).

Our politicians focus on activities or outputs as their achievements (read: accomplishments), without dealing with the actual outcomes or impact on their constituencies. For example, a governor or mayor may boast of kilometers of roads constructed, school buildings, health centers built, etc., but how these infrastructures have resulted in an increase in enrollment, decrease in dropout rate, improvement in the quality of teaching, etc. is less discussed.

By teaching these concepts to grade school children, they will learn to gauge the qualifications of candidates and measure the performance of government officials based on their actual impact and outcomes (achievement), rather than mere activities or outputs (accomplishment). Children will develop a better understanding of how to evaluate the qualifications and performance of candidates and government officials based on the higher levels of objectives and results, such as outcomes and impact.

Integrating these concepts into the education curriculum will require careful planning and coordination among stakeholders. The concepts are presented in an age-appropriate and culturally relevant manner, taking into account the different languages and contexts in the different LGUs.

Introducing the concepts of Hierarchy of Objectives and Results Chain in schools will empower young children to evaluate the qualifications and performance of candidates and government officials, and will contribute to addressing the issue of political dynasties and disinformation. Of course, implementing this will require careful consideration and collaboration among various stakeholders. This will make young people informed and responsible citizens.

Obviously, this will require intricate explanations and examples, thus, it is important to incorporate them into the school curriculum. The task at hand is finding progressive educators in the Department of Education, or servant leaders in Congress to potentially introduce this through edicts or legislation.

Nono Felix