Editorial:

Non-reader Students: Who’s to Accountable?

Reading is one of the five macro skills in English and is also one of the foundations of
learning. Thus, reading is essential to learning, but who really is to blame when students are
having a hard time reading? Is it really the fault of the one who is always with them? Is it the
parents, the students, or the education system of the government?

There are many reasons why students are still having a hard time reading, even at the
secondary and high school levels.

Teachers are considered the second parents of the students, and many are saying that they
are to blame for the non-reader students. However, teachers deal with different types of students
every day, and they are handling not just one or two students but almost a hundred students a
day. Hence, they couldn’t focus on teaching students how to read because teaching students
how to read requires a lot of time and effort, and it would be impossible for one teacher to teach
a hundred students in a day.

Meanwhile, there are a variety of students in every class, and not all of them learn in the
same way and at the same pace. There are students who learn fast and can understand the
concept in just one explanation from the teacher, but there are also others who are having a hard
time understanding what the teacher is talking about. In addition to this, there are students who
are working to help their parents and families, which is why they couldn’t focus on their
studies.

Parents are also busy with their work; sometimes both parents in the family are working.
That is why, even at home, they couldn’t monitor their child’s studies. Even the education
system here in the Philippines is not perfect. There are many students who reach high school
even though they did not learn anything because there is a law here in the Philippines that says
teachers are not allowed to fail the students.

Having a low reading rate is not the fault of just one person but of all those involved in
education.