The class of 2025 is graduating into a world challenged by artificial intelligence, geopolitical tensions, and growing inequalities. In this year’s round of commencement addresses across the globe, there appears a trend: A call to affirm our shared humanity, to uphold kindness in an age of division, and to demand meaningful change in systems. However, this may be different for in the Philippine-setting.

For instance, at Union College in the US, journalist Joanna Stern delivered a memorable address reminding graduates not to “fall in love with AI.” Stern, a seasoned tech writer for The Wall Street Journal, has long studied the intersection of human behavior and digital progress. Her speech emphasized that creativity, critical thinking, and empathy are traits that remain distinctly human. “The machines may know everything,” she quipped, “but they will never know how it feels to fail, to fall, and to rise again.”

Actor Steve Carell, speaking at Northwestern University, took a more emotional tone. While best known for his comedic roles, Carell reminded graduates that in a world struggling with division, kindness and community are essential tools for survival.

In the Philippines, the voices of young graduates have also found resonance —not just in global ideals but in specific calls to fix what is broken. Christian Nazarene Magcawas, Summa Cum Laude of De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, challenged the system that made it so difficult for students like him to succeed. “We celebrate grit,” he said, “but what we really need is systemic change.”

His speech came amid growing criticism of the country’s public education system. International assessments have consistently ranked Filipino students at the bottom in reading, mathematics, and science, even within ASEAN. Recent data show that despite the implementation of the K-12 program, many graduates still lack the competencies expected of them, making it harder for them to compete in global and regional job markets.

Education should not be a privilege reserved for the few who can afford it — it is a basic human right and the greatest equalizer in society. Yet, in the Philippines, many students rely on outdated textbooks, overcrowded classrooms, and underpaid teachers. Scholarships and grants are either too few or tied up in bureaucracy. It is not enough to name schools after politicians. What matters is whether the student leaving its gates can reason, read, write and earn.

Calls to roll back the K-12 system, under the guise of being “pro-poor,” are shortsighted. Education is not an expense to be trimmed, but an investment in national survival. The answer is not fewer years in school — but better years. A diploma should not be a decorative certificate, but a genuine passport to opportunity.

As these speeches remind us, whether in elite institutions abroad or humble halls here at home, the task of education is not just to inform — it is to uplift, equalize, and humanize. And that is a message worth graduating to.