NSCB


Stat Board Chief: Call Centers and TV Rot Your Brain

Thanks to Issai for pointing out this wonderfully vitriolic article by Alex Villafania.

“It pains me to hear about many of our brilliant, young students dropping out of college to work in the call centers. Yes, the call centers where the money seems to be.”

This was the opening statement of National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) Secretary General Romulo Virola in his recent column called “Statistically Speaking” in NSCB’s website, pointing to what he calls a downtrend spiral of the country’s education system.

He also aimed his disappointment at Filipino’s fascination for “boom tarat tarat,” which ostensibly is a jingle used in a popular noontime TV show.

“Of course the call centers can help us attain the economic growth that we need to be able to reduce poverty. But is education no longer the asset that we of the older generation treasured? Isn’t there anything anyone can do to contain the fascination of our society for our children to become singers and dancers rather than scientists and engineers?” Virola stressed.

“But one conclusion is safe: in education, we used to be better than many of our neighbors and competitors! Not anymore, or at least not much longer! Time to wake up! Maybe time to shift entertainment from Boom Tarat Tarat to something else!”

Call it the Boom Tarat Tarat Manifesto. Dr. Virola and Lauro Vives should talk. Lauro says medical transcription sucks.

I have two bits of good news for Dr. Virola. First, Philippine IT is slowly shifting from BPO to netrepreneurship. Second, Philippine entertainment is already shifting from TV to YouTube. 🙂