Citing data from world agencies, the Philippine Daily Inquirer describes the state of Philippine education, thus:
1. “Out of 100 Filipino kids who enter school, only 65 get to finish primary. Back in 1998, 70 got to finish; while only 42 finish high school compared to 54 who did in 1998. Add to that the fact that public expenditure per high school student (as a percentage of GDP per capita) fell from 10.7 percent in 1999 to 9.2 percent in 2004. While the education department has been getting a bigger allocation from the government (from P90 billion in 1999 to P149 billion in 2008), there’s been no significant increase in real terms—P90 billion vs. P92.5 billion for example. The total Education budget’s share to National Government budget has been declining (19 percent in 1999 to a little over 11 percent in 2008).”
2. “Our country’s Education budget is only between 2 percent and 2.5 percent of the country’s GDP, lower than the 4 percent to 5 percent recommended by Unesco; Major East Asian economies allot 5 percent to 6 percent. The country spends the least on educating its kids ($318 per child vs. Thailand’s $1,048).”
3. “The Philippines has the largest student-teacher ratio at elementary level in Southeast Asia, next to Cambodia.”
4. “Estimates peg losses due to overpriced materials at P22 billion: “The amount could have been used to build 4,500 classrooms or procure 11 million desks or 440,000 computers. Or pay teachers a decent wage.”
5. “Together with Indonesia, the Philippines has the worst secondary school enrollment rate among the Asian countries.”
6. “Pres. Gloria Arroyo herself famously solved the shortage of classrooms by decreeing double, even triple shifts, and after so doing, claimed there was no longer a classroom shortage.”
7. “The Presidential Task Force for Education has pointed out that a span of 15 to 16 years must cover education from Grade 1 to the undergraduate level. But the Philippines stands out as having the shortest education cycle in the world: only 14 (10 for basic and four for undergraduate).”
8. “The effect of the Bologna Accord will be to close off many job opportunities to Filipinos. Once adopted by the European Union, we can foresee the United States taking a similar, critical (actually, dismissive) attitude toward Philippine education credentials. We cannot emphasize enough the devastating effect this would have on the employment prospects of Filipinos abroad.
Comment:
My prediction is that, and as repeatedly proved by previous bar examinations data, the quality of legal education in the Philippines would continue to deteriorate to such a degree that the command of the English language and the reasoning power of bar examinees could best be described as embarrassing, at the very least. The net effect thereof would be to produce a poor-quality administration of (in)justice in the country, unless, of course, the leaders of the Philippines exercise the political will to emulate the model and paradigm of Asian countries with reputable educational systems, such as Singapore and Hongkong, and unless Filipino leaders (especially those sitting in top positions in the Executive and the Legislative) stop prostituting and corrupting the budgets for education and social services of the country.
When the educational foundation of a law student (elementary to high school, at least) is poor, you may expect that person to acquire an equally poor collegiate and graduate education precisely because his foundation in basic logic, language, and other learning skills from childhood to adolescence (age 7 to 17) is deficient.
Read the full text of the editorial:
Editorial
Time bomb
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 22:22:00 01/30/2010
MANILA, Philippines — President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has gone on a self-proclaimed “charm offensive,” engaging sectors she’s been generally hostile to if not patently dismissive of. Last week she had an impromptu dinner with members of the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (Focap). More recently, she embarked on a campus tour to tout her “legacy.” There is something ironic about this campus tour when her legacy in education has been to try to drown out a ticking time bomb by trumpeting propaganda.
Peter Wallace, a business observer, recently released a report titled “Uncertain Times,” summarizing damning findings. Quoting UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, he points out that the Philippines is a “striking example of under performance.”
“Today,” Wallace reports, “out of 100 Filipino kids who enter school, only 65 get to finish primary. Back in 1998, 70 got to finish; while only 42 finish high school compared to 54 who did in 1998. Add to that the fact that public expenditure per high school student (as a percentage of GDP per capita) fell from 10.7 percent in 1999 to 9.2 percent in 2004. While the education department has been getting a bigger allocation from the government (from P90 billion in 1999 to P149 billion in 2008), there’s been no significant increase in real terms—P90 billion vs P92.5 billion for example. The total Education budget’s share to National Government budget has been declining (19 percent in 1999 to a little over 11 percent in 2008).”
He also puts forward four damning sets of data:
Our country’s “Education budget is only between 2 percent and 2.5 percent of the country’s GDP, lower than the 4 percent to 5 percent recommended by Unesco; Major East Asian economies allot 5 percent to 6 percent. The country spends the least on educating its kids ($318 per child vs. Thailand’s $1,048).”
The Philippines “has the largest student-teacher ratio at elementary level in Southeast Asia, next to Cambodia.”
Estimates peg losses due to overpriced materials at P22 billion: “The amount could have been used to build 4,500 classrooms or procure 11 million desks or 440,000 computers. Or pay teachers a decent wage.”
And an “IMD report noted that, together with Indonesia, the Philippines has the worst secondary school enrollment rate among the Asian countries.”
These discouraging statistics point to a government treading water instead of actively navigating the challenges of an increasingly complex world. Ms Arroyo herself famously solved the shortage of classrooms by decreeing double, even triple shifts, and after so doing, claimed there was no longer a classroom shortage.
As it is, even as public debates focus on the costs of education, policymakers’ warnings about taking a more strategic approach—and convincing parents and students of the required, tough reforms if Filipinos are to remain competitive domestically and internationally—are being ignored. The President herself seems to be blind and deaf to the findings of the Presidential Task Force for Education, which pointed out that a span of 15 to 16 years must cover education from Grade 1 to the undergraduate level. But the Philippines stands out as having the shortest education cycle in the world: only 14 (10 for basic and four for undergraduate).
We have to keep our kids in school longer just to meet minimum equivalencies around the world.
Take the Bologna Accord. According to educator Isagani Cruz, it comes into effect this year in the European Union. It would essentially not recognize Philippine diplomas because our graduates would have gone through an insufficient number of years in school. The effect of the Bologna Accord will be to close off many job opportunities to Filipinos. Once adopted by the European Union, we can foresee the United States taking a similar, critical (actually, dismissive) attitude toward Philippine education credentials. We cannot emphasize enough the devastating effect this would have on the employment prospects of Filipinos abroad.
But the President has been silent on this score, and her charm offensive in the campuses seems focused on her political objectives for 2010 rather than on improving the quality of Philippine education.
See:
http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/editorial/view/20100130-250394/Time-bomb
