There’s a newly formed group very publicly calling for reforms in education. They call themselves the Education Nation coalition. On paper, it’s a powerful group comprising founders, senior executives and high level officers of top-tier organizations. Just how powerful a group will remain to be seen (on future government education policies) but the issue they’ve decided to take on is more significant. It is Philippine education, which is to say, Philippine public education. Private institutions - being relatively free from government control and funding - have largely remained globally competitive and hardly ailing. Although President Arroyo and the Commission on Higher Education have made initiatives to rock the otherwise smooth sailing boat of private institutions. But that’s a whole other bunch of issues (continuously taken up by Fr Joaquin Bernas).
Anyway, the coalition has come up with a 10-point agenda to uplift the current state of education. But the 10 points are mostly generalized so we’ll just tackle the least broad one which is: “[e]nhancing basic education by adding two more years to it.”
As already mentioned, the state of the Philippine education system is largely the state of our public school system. The UNESCO National Education Support Strategy (dated January 2009)reports that “[a]s of School Year (SY) 2007-200839, out of 44,471 elementary schools, around 85% were public while only 15% were private. On the other hand, 8,450 schools offer secondary education in SY 2007-2008, of which 60% were public and 40% were private.”
At present, our public school education only has 6 years of grade school and 4 years of high school, with not even a mandatory requirement for pre-school learning. So only 10 years of basic education.
K-12, K-10 and just 10
The international standard is K-12 education which is formal education from kindergarten to 12th grade (i.e., kindergarten plus 12 years of grade school and high school). A lower standard is K-10 which is kindergarten plus only 10 years of grade school and high school. But our public school system is short of even K-10 education (most of our students go straight to grade 1 and go through only 6 years of grade school plus 4 years of high school). Thus, most of our students start formal education only around the age of 6.
In a recent commentary (dated January 8, 2010), Former Secretary of Education, Edilberto C. de Jesus, referencing the resolution of the Education Committee of UNESCO’s Philippine National Commission notes that “among 155 Unesco member countries, only Djoubuti, Angola and the Philippines still fall below what has become the international norm” which is K-12 education. This is a triumvirate of shame. It is scary to inquire what other records we have that also puts us on the level of African countries. We’re not even on the same level as any Asian country, not even Bangladesh.
So we’re only 1 of 3 remaining in the world, and the only Asian country, to not follow international education standards. [Sigh] When one of our modern heroes is former street child Efren Peñaflorida, who was prompted to offer pushcart education to street children, it’s depressing and distressing.
Current State of Philippine Basic Education
The earlier mentioned UNESCO National Education Support Strategy (UNESS) reports that “[t]he quality of elementary education has deteriorated over the years as indicated by the low achievement rates of students in SY 2007 – 2008 which were around: 64.81% in Math, 63.89% in Science, 57.90% in English, 61.62% in HEKASI (Social Sciences) and 73.18% in Filipino. All scores were low compared to the desired 75% cut-off score. Meanwhile, the Philippines ranked 41st in Science and 42nd in Mathematics from among 45 countries in the Trends in International Math and Science Survey."
As for secondary education, the UNESS says that the quality “is not far from that of the elementary level as indicated by the poor performance of 4th year students in the National Achievement Test (NAT) in SY 2005 – 2006, with Mean Percentage Scores in Math (44%), English (38%), Science (48%), Filipino (41%) and “Araling Panlipunan (Social Studies) (48).51 The achievement rate (MPS) of second year students in 2007-2008 was equally dismal: 49.26% in Math; 42.85% in Science; 46.71% in English; 47.64% in Filipino; and, 55.63% in Araling Panlipunan.”
The UNESS blames the deteriorating quality of basic education to under investment in education which caused shortages of key educational resources like teachers, textbooks and classrooms. “Textbook shortages in 2006 reached 41.32 million books ... DepEd records showed that 11 schools were observing four shifts, 133 schools offering three shifts and about 900 schools providing two shifts a day to accommodate the every-increasing student enrolment ... cutting down class time … may also affect adversely education quality [and] overcrowded classrooms, which are unfavorable learning environment, also adversely affect quality.”
And these problems are on top of the deficiency in the international standard of K-12 or 13 years of formal education.
Relevant Laws and Government Policies
Education Act of 1953
Republic Act No. 896 (“An Act To Declare The Policy On Elementary Education In The Philippines” or the "Elementary Education Act of 1953” mandates that “[t]he primary course shall be composed of four grades (Grades I to IV) and the intermediate course of three grades (Grade V to VII).” This law has yet to be amended yet its mandate of 7 years of grade school has already been “amended” by the executive branch of government by making public elementary education only 6 years.
Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan 2004-2010
It is further telling of the Arroyo government’s priorities that in its MTPDP for 2004-2010, although already noting that “[t]he Philippines has one of the shortest basic education systems in Asia-Pacific, with six years of elementary and four years of high school”, the government did not include in its 8 goals for elementary education the latter’s increase from 6 to 7 years, thus perpetuating government policy of short basic education contrary to the Elementary Education Act of 1953 and the international norm for basic education.
To add further injury, the Arroyo government included as one of its goals: requiring preschool as a prerequisite to grade one.
Philippine Constitution
Article XIV, Sec 2, paragraph 3 of the Constitution obligates the government to “[e]stablish and maintain, a system of free public education in the elementary and high school levels.” By not increasing elementary education from 6 to 7 years, Arroyo ingeniously saved government funds by taking these away from already poor students needing more basic education while potentially increasing the financial burden on their families by aiming to make preschool a prerequisite to entering grade school.
We definitely need an additional 2 years of basic education. The presidential elections are nearing. If you care about the state of our education, choose the candidate who prioritizes education (pursuant to the Constitution) and plans to implement K-12 education (pursuant to international standards).
Education inevitably affects the state of our country one way or another. Uneducated people make uneducated decisions (to put it mildly). And if they end up as leaders or even just the voting majority, we’ll always be doomed.
I know of an educator who wishes that the children of all government officials be mandated to go to public schools to ensure that our education system be given the rightful attention it needs. It seems like the sure-fire way of making us an Education Nation.
Anyway, the coalition has come up with a 10-point agenda to uplift the current state of education. But the 10 points are mostly generalized so we’ll just tackle the least broad one which is: “[e]nhancing basic education by adding two more years to it.”
As already mentioned, the state of the Philippine education system is largely the state of our public school system. The UNESCO National Education Support Strategy (dated January 2009)reports that “[a]s of School Year (SY) 2007-200839, out of 44,471 elementary schools, around 85% were public while only 15% were private. On the other hand, 8,450 schools offer secondary education in SY 2007-2008, of which 60% were public and 40% were private.”
At present, our public school education only has 6 years of grade school and 4 years of high school, with not even a mandatory requirement for pre-school learning. So only 10 years of basic education.
K-12, K-10 and just 10
The international standard is K-12 education which is formal education from kindergarten to 12th grade (i.e., kindergarten plus 12 years of grade school and high school). A lower standard is K-10 which is kindergarten plus only 10 years of grade school and high school. But our public school system is short of even K-10 education (most of our students go straight to grade 1 and go through only 6 years of grade school plus 4 years of high school). Thus, most of our students start formal education only around the age of 6.
In a recent commentary (dated January 8, 2010), Former Secretary of Education, Edilberto C. de Jesus, referencing the resolution of the Education Committee of UNESCO’s Philippine National Commission notes that “among 155 Unesco member countries, only Djoubuti, Angola and the Philippines still fall below what has become the international norm” which is K-12 education. This is a triumvirate of shame. It is scary to inquire what other records we have that also puts us on the level of African countries. We’re not even on the same level as any Asian country, not even Bangladesh.
So we’re only 1 of 3 remaining in the world, and the only Asian country, to not follow international education standards. [Sigh] When one of our modern heroes is former street child Efren Peñaflorida, who was prompted to offer pushcart education to street children, it’s depressing and distressing.
Current State of Philippine Basic Education
The earlier mentioned UNESCO National Education Support Strategy (UNESS) reports that “[t]he quality of elementary education has deteriorated over the years as indicated by the low achievement rates of students in SY 2007 – 2008 which were around: 64.81% in Math, 63.89% in Science, 57.90% in English, 61.62% in HEKASI (Social Sciences) and 73.18% in Filipino. All scores were low compared to the desired 75% cut-off score. Meanwhile, the Philippines ranked 41st in Science and 42nd in Mathematics from among 45 countries in the Trends in International Math and Science Survey."
As for secondary education, the UNESS says that the quality “is not far from that of the elementary level as indicated by the poor performance of 4th year students in the National Achievement Test (NAT) in SY 2005 – 2006, with Mean Percentage Scores in Math (44%), English (38%), Science (48%), Filipino (41%) and “Araling Panlipunan (Social Studies) (48).51 The achievement rate (MPS) of second year students in 2007-2008 was equally dismal: 49.26% in Math; 42.85% in Science; 46.71% in English; 47.64% in Filipino; and, 55.63% in Araling Panlipunan.”
The UNESS blames the deteriorating quality of basic education to under investment in education which caused shortages of key educational resources like teachers, textbooks and classrooms. “Textbook shortages in 2006 reached 41.32 million books ... DepEd records showed that 11 schools were observing four shifts, 133 schools offering three shifts and about 900 schools providing two shifts a day to accommodate the every-increasing student enrolment ... cutting down class time … may also affect adversely education quality [and] overcrowded classrooms, which are unfavorable learning environment, also adversely affect quality.”
And these problems are on top of the deficiency in the international standard of K-12 or 13 years of formal education.
Relevant Laws and Government Policies
Education Act of 1953
Republic Act No. 896 (“An Act To Declare The Policy On Elementary Education In The Philippines” or the "Elementary Education Act of 1953” mandates that “[t]he primary course shall be composed of four grades (Grades I to IV) and the intermediate course of three grades (Grade V to VII).” This law has yet to be amended yet its mandate of 7 years of grade school has already been “amended” by the executive branch of government by making public elementary education only 6 years.
Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan 2004-2010
It is further telling of the Arroyo government’s priorities that in its MTPDP for 2004-2010, although already noting that “[t]he Philippines has one of the shortest basic education systems in Asia-Pacific, with six years of elementary and four years of high school”, the government did not include in its 8 goals for elementary education the latter’s increase from 6 to 7 years, thus perpetuating government policy of short basic education contrary to the Elementary Education Act of 1953 and the international norm for basic education.
To add further injury, the Arroyo government included as one of its goals: requiring preschool as a prerequisite to grade one.
Philippine Constitution
Article XIV, Sec 2, paragraph 3 of the Constitution obligates the government to “[e]stablish and maintain, a system of free public education in the elementary and high school levels.” By not increasing elementary education from 6 to 7 years, Arroyo ingeniously saved government funds by taking these away from already poor students needing more basic education while potentially increasing the financial burden on their families by aiming to make preschool a prerequisite to entering grade school.
We definitely need an additional 2 years of basic education. The presidential elections are nearing. If you care about the state of our education, choose the candidate who prioritizes education (pursuant to the Constitution) and plans to implement K-12 education (pursuant to international standards).
Education inevitably affects the state of our country one way or another. Uneducated people make uneducated decisions (to put it mildly). And if they end up as leaders or even just the voting majority, we’ll always be doomed.
I know of an educator who wishes that the children of all government officials be mandated to go to public schools to ensure that our education system be given the rightful attention it needs. It seems like the sure-fire way of making us an Education Nation.
4 comments:
Please confirm: Most of the desktop computers purchased last year by DepEd for public schools cost 200K to 300K.
Sorry we can't confirm this. We're not in any way connected with government.
We could only find a 2007 article on Inquirer online entitled "Alarm at DepEd computer ‘overprice’". The articles talks of "600 desktop computers, along with educational compact discs, for elementary and high school students at a cost of P250,000 per set". Here's the link:http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20070412-59917/Alarm_at_DepEd_computer_%91overprice%92
We can barely see that our nation is governed by corrupt leaders.those computers are really expensive! and then they keep on complaining that the budget for the education is very low. what a ridiculous leaders! T_T
It is true that education is the key for this country to progress. Without it, sooner or later our country will be led by uneducated people.
Post a Comment