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The sorry state of RP public education
Excerpts from the ‘Kaakbay sa Pag-aaral Capacity-Building for Rural Learning and Development Project Paper’ KAAKBAY-Citizens’ Development Initiatives (KAKBAY-CDI)
The Philippine public education system is in crisis!
At the 24th National Educators Congress, former Education Secretary Florencio Abad laid down the facts:
- Only six out of every 1,000 Grade Six elementary graduate students are prepared to enter high school.
- Only two out of every 100 fourth year high school students are fit to enter college.
- Only 19 out of every 100 public school teachers have confidence and competence to teach English.
- The Philippines is no. 41 in Science and no. 42 in Mathematics among 45 countries.
The Philippine public education is in distress! Figures from the Department of Education’s (DepEd) budget proposal last year painted a gloomy picture:
- One in every eight schools has teacher-to-pupil ratio of 1:50 and above.
- One in every seven students does not have a classroom.
- One in every five students does not have a desk.
- One in every three students does not have a single textbook.
- Two to eight students share a single set of textbooks.
The quality of Philippine education is declining continuously. Elementary and high schools are failing to teach the competence the average citizen needs to become responsible, productive and self-fulfilling.
The principal reasons for this decline, as previously outlined by Sen. Manny Villar, are because first, the country is simply not investing enough in the education system, and second, the education establishment has been poorly managed.
The rural areas and the countryside are the worst affected areas of the deteriorating quality of public education in the Philippines.
Education has always been viewed as an avenue to a better quality of life. It provides equal opportunities to the rich and poor alike. As such, the development and provision of education should always be discussed and viewed within the context of poverty alleviation.NO LONGER A RIGHT?
Poverty in the Philippines, however, has reached a point where education is no longer a right for all but a privilege for a few.
If it is indeed a way for a better life, it is one that is narrow and difficult to thread.
Education, as an equalizer for opportunities, has become a myth. The rich has a variety of choices offered by the private educational institutions, while the poor has to make do with a public education characterized by dilapidated school facilities, lack of materials and textbooks, technological incompetence and the like – one which could never give an enabling foundation for equal opportunities in the future.
Operating on a very limited budget and with a very high investment demand on social services, the Philippine government had to thinly spread its resources. But the government is not investing enough on public education to provide a meaningful impact on the educational system, in particular, and the lives of the citizenry, in general.
It is for this reason that non-government organizations and other stakeholders have to take on the gargantuan task of bringing quality education directly to the poorest areas and the poorest people in the country and share this responsibility with the government.
Every child has an inherent right to quality education. To deny a child equal access to quality education is to deny his/her future.
Education, being the most powerful instrument in poverty alleviation and economic advancement, needs to be accessible to every child.
The limitations of government, wealth and borders must not hinder the task of providing quality education to an incoming generation.
The concerned people in the government, private sector and civil society who have the capacity to help and to contribute in bringing quality education have a responsibility to shoulder this task.
Social mobilization must be done if we still hope to see some genuine upgrading in the academic performance of the Filipino students. It is as imperative that community’s resource holders whether individual or private businesses realize that education is too complex an issue to be left to the government alone.
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