Education in the Philippines
What has become of education in the
Philippines?
The state of the educational system in the Philippines is a great cause for worry. We
used to produce students who were well-rounded and ready for the challenges of
the real world. Today, for every 10 children who start their primary education, only 6
go on to continue with their secondary education, and 4 will manage to enter
college. What happened? Other countries used to send their students to the
Philippines to learn, now they've overtaken us and are the experts. Isn't that
frustrating?
I hope to be able to make some sense about the decline in the quality of education,
and with the help of people as concerned as I, do something to change for the
better.
Key Issues in Philippine Education
Literacy rate in the Philippines has improved a lot over the last few years- from 72
percent in 1960 to 94 percent in 1990. This is attributed to the increase in both the
number of schools built and the level of enrollment in these schools.
The number of schools grew rapidly in all three levels - elementary, secondary, and
tertiary. From the mid-1960s up to the early 1990, there was an increase of 58
percent in the elementary schools and 362 percent in the tertiary schools. For the
same period, enrollmentin all three levels also rose by 120 percent. More than 90
percent of the elementary schools and 60 percent of the secondary schools are
publicly owned. However, only 28 percent of the tertiary schools are publicly owned.
A big percentage of tertiary-level students enroll in and finish commerce
and business management courses. Table 1 shows the distribution of courses
taken, based on School Year 1990-1991. Note that the difference between the
number of enrollees in the commerce andbusiness courses and in the engineering
and technology courses may be small - 29.2 percent for commerce and business
and 20.3 percent for engineering and technology. However, the gap widens in terms
of the number of graduates for the said courses.
On gender distribution, female students have very high representation in all three
levels. At the elementary level, male and female students are almost equally
represented. But femaleenrollment exceeds that of the male at the secondary and
tertiary levels . Also, boys have higher rates of failures, dropouts, and repetition in
both elementary and secondary levels.
Aside from the numbers presented above, which are impressive, there is also a
need to look closely and resolve the following important issues: 1) quality of
education 2) affordability of education 3) goverment budget for education; and 4)
education mismatch.
1. Quality - There was a decline in the quality of the Philippine education, especially
at the elementary and secondary levels. For example, the results of standard tests
conducted among elementary and high school students, as well as in the National
College of Entrance Examination for college students, were way below the target
mean score.
2. Affordability - There is also a big disparity in educational achievements across
social groups. For example, the socioeconomically disadvantaged students have
higher dropout rates, especially in the elementary level. And most of the freshmen
students at the tertiary level come from relatively well-off families.
3. Budget - The Philippine Constitution has mandated the goverment to allocate the
highest proportion of its budget to education. However, the Philippines still has one
of the lowest budget allocations to education among the ASEAN countries.
4. Mismatch - There is a large proportion of "mismatch" between training and actual
jobs. This is the major problem at the tertiary level and it is also the cause of the
existence of a large group of educated unemployed or underemployed.
The following are some of the reforms proposed:
1. Upgrade the teachers' salary scale. Teachers have been underpaid; thus there is
very little incentive for most of them to take up advanced trainings.
2. Amend the current system of budgeting for education across regions, which is
based on participation rates and units costs. This clearly favors the more developed
regions. There is a need to provide more allocation to lagging regions to narrow the
disparity across regions.
3. Stop the current practice of subsidizing state universities and colleges to enhance
access. This may not be the best way to promote equity. An expanded scholarship
program, giving more focus and priority to the poor, maybe more equitable.
4. Get all the leaders in business and industry to become actively involved in higher
education; this is aimed at addressing the mismatch problem. In addition, carry out a
selective admission policy, i.e., installing mechanisms to reduce enrollment in
oversubscribed courses and promoting enrollment in undersubscribed ones.
5. Develop a rationalized apprenticeship program with heavy inputs from the private
sector. Furthermore, transfer the control of technical training to industry groups
which are more attuned to the needs of business and industry.
Read more: http://www.ph.net/htdocs/education/issue.htm
Woes of a FIlipino Teacher
Imagine yourself a Filipino teacher. Imagine yourself a teacher in a public school.
Imagine yourself handling a class of 60 to 70 students. Imagine yourself handling
two shifts of classes with 60 to 70 students.
Yes, it is a nightmare. And yes it happens in real life within the public school system.
It is a manifestation of the two most prevalent problems in the educational system:
lack of classrooms and lack of teachers.
In fairness, most private school teachers, especially those in small private schools,
will admit that public school mentors earn more than they do. But even with the
relatively higher wages, it does not seem to compensate for the daily travails of
public school teachers.
The ideal ratio of teacher to student is 1:25. The less number of children handled by
one mentor, the more attention can be given to each individual, especially if their
learning competencies are not equal. With 25 students in a class, the teacher is
likely to know each of her students, not only by face but by name and how they are
actually performing in class.
But with 60 children in a classroom, it is a miracle how teachers are able to stay
sane every single day. They hardly know their pupils, save for the excellent ones or
unfortunately, the notorious. She does not even bother to remember them. How can
she? Classrooms are cramped, if there are any at all. Many classes are held in
makeshift rooms meaning a multi-purpose covered court with partitions where 4 or 5
classes are merely separated by thin plywood walls. With 60 kids north, east, south
and west, it's a wonder teachers can hear themselves over the din.
And how do you tailor lessons with so many competencies to consider? Often, the
result is children are left to cope on their own. If they get the lesson, well and good.
Otherwise, they are lucky to pass at the end of the year.
Yes, students are still divided into sections and they are grouped into the level of
theiracademic skills. Which leaves those who are academically challenged lumped
together and their teacher to stretch her skills, patience, resources and dedication to
addressing the need of her students.
Resources are another matter. Many public school classrooms are equipped with
the most basic of equipment: a blackboard, chalk and eraser. Some are fortunate to
have visual aids, either donated or purchased by the school. But many times, a
teacher will not only have to be creative, but will dig into her own pocket to produce
the kind of materials she needs and wants to teach class.
It used to be that rolls of Manila paper were adequate to write down the lesson for
the day. But this can get to be very expensive, especially if the lessons are long.
And with a class so huge, children are barely able to see small handwriting from the
back, so you need to write bigger, and use more paper. Children always welcome
additional and unique visual aids, and woe to the teacher who has to create them if
she wants her subject or lesson to be more interesting.
Which brings us to the budget for visual aids. It is non-existent, except if you choose
to shell out on your own. Teachers still have to make ends meet. And often, their
pay is simply not enough to cover their needs, as well as their families.
The Department of Education just announced that so many millions of pesos have
been released for the construction and repair of classrooms around the country. I
believe this will only cover those included in a priority list. But there are many more
schools which lack classrooms, and more communities that lack schools.
When additional classrooms are built, will there be additional teachers? If new
teachers will be hired, will there be a budget to support their wages?
It's a never-ending cycle, because the government has yet to come up with a plan
that will finally address these problems.
In the meantime, Ma'm or Sir will have to suffer through their public school
experience.
Blast from the Past
My paternal grandparents were teachers. My father's sister was also a teacher, and
in fact, worked her way up the ranks to later become a public school principal. Since
my grandparents have both passed on, my aunt and dad never fail to regale us with
stories of how it was in public schools during their time.
If I remember correctly, everything was simplified. The curriculum was the basics or
the 3 Rs -- Reading, wRiting and aRithmetic. By the time children completed each
year level, they would at least know how to read, write and do simple math, and
progress a bit more after every grade level.
I say great! To my mind, armed with these skills, you can fend for yourself even at a
young age because you'd understand simple written instructions, you can jot down
important things, and you'd be a little savvy about simple trade.
Back then, they had simple books -- ones that really honed a student's skill by
familiarizing him with the alphabet, phonetics and simple definitions. Unless you've
mastered the addition table, you were nowhere near progressing to multiplication.
And even if teachers ended up "terrorizing" their students or resorting to
punishment, the bottomline was to inculcate in them the necessary skills to make
them competent individuals in the future.
Sure they had books and notebooks but not enough to break a child's back or
dislocate the shoulders. They were the essentials. A pencil, some writing paper and
a notebook or two were all they needed to come to class.
Boys were not exempt from home economics classes, which included learning to
cook, sew, and keep house. Neither were girls excluded from practical arts classes
which had them gardening, doing basic carpentry or even learning handyman skills.
It's been quite some time since I, too, was in school. But I do recall that things
weren't as complicated as they are now -- especially in the public school system
here in the Philippines. Yet, the graduates that were produced could go toe-to-toe
with children who were products of private schools. In fact, public school educated
children were often better than their private school counterparts. The only difference
is their economic status and the opportunities available to them.
So what went wrong? When had things become different? Why did they suddenly
change a system that was working?
Bulatlat
Bulatlat in the Filipino language means to thoroughly look into. And there are various
organizations that do this, especially in areas of public concern like education.
The 3 Rs
How come the 3 Rs (Reading, wRiting and
aRithmetic) were good enough in the old days to
ensure that kids learned in school?
An Insider's View
The problems according to a public school teacher
The problems besetting the Philippine educational system are not lost among those
who are in the system themselves. Mr. Gilbert M. Forbes is a Head Teacher in
elementary based in the Pitogo District Division of Quezon province. I don't know the
man, but I think he is truly an educator because he is willing to face the problems,
and even better, help find ways to address them.
Based from his experience, he lists the most pressing concerns in the public school
system that must be addressed if people are serious about putting things in order:
1)Development of Instructional Materials particularly in core subjects. Teachers not
only need training in the preparation and development of instructional materials, but
they must also be given financial support to produce these. Instructional Materials
include modules, standardized validated rating, achievement and diagnostic tests viz
qualitative one's.
I'm not a school teacher, but I do know the difficulties faced by mentors just to
prepare lesson plans, visual aids and examinations for their students. More often
than not, they are forced to use their own resources (money and otherwise) just to
have these available to better teach their classes. How can we actually expect them
to come up with instructional materials that will truly be of help to students if they are
not properly equipped to develop them, and worse, not have the necessary
resources to create these?
The backlog in books has been reduced tremendously but textbooks still don't
contain enough exercises and testing materials that teachers can use for their daily
instruction. As a result, most of the time, the teacher is required to write all the
exercises on the board that eat up class hours. Otherwise, they opt not to give
exercises at all.
If the teacher isn't going to provide exercises, how can students practice what is
taught them? The education department continues to receive an increase in the
yearly allocation. Unfortunately, the ratio of books to students remains insufficient to
this day. Many pupils have to share books, how can they be expected to do
exercises and hone their skills?
2) The system of promotion within the ranks needs to be overhauled. To date, what
is prevalent is the "Palakasan System, Utang na Loob and Pakikisama System."
Generally, this refers to a system where what matters are the people you know,
especially the powers-that-be, the people who owe you favors, and the clique you
belong to. If you meet any one of these criteria, you are almost assured of getting a
promotion, never mind if you are not qualified for it.
In Mr. Forbes' opinion, it is high time that the teachers' ranks be professionalized
from top-to-bottom akin to the corporate world. Promotions should be solely based
on merit. Because with the present system, many of those who rise in rank "don't
necessarily have the guts to become an educational leader."
Many are just after the salary increase and most of all of the prestige that goes with
being a school manager! The worst is, these mentors are not really concerned and
dedicated enough to initiate reforms to improve the system.
While it is true that a teacher's salary is not commensurate to the workload, a real
educator will still lead by example and exert 101% effort in everything he or she
does.
It has been said time and again that teaching is a noble profession, and it certainly
is. But this nobility is lost if there is no commitment and dedication to go with the job.
There is great responsibility in being a teacher because in their hands lie the future
of young people.
3) Teacher Training and Development. In spite the number of people pursuing a
degree in education, very few are actually equipped with the necessary competence
in specific learning areas that they are supposed to excel in. According to Mr.
Forbes, observations are that except for education graduates from CHED
designated centers of excellence, many would be teachers are deficient in subject
matters.
And this results in overworking some mentors who are well-trained and educated
because they are forced to take up the shortcomings of their peers.
(These are just some of points raised by Mr. Forbes. Another article will be devoted
to discuss other issues he noted.)
The courage to teach
An inspiring story on how to improve the quality of
Philippine education
By Rachel Barawid
Manila Bulletin
Students & Campuses Section
What does it take to be a good teacher? How much of oneself should be put
into this profession to make an impact on the lives of the students? A teacher
reveals a formula...
In the day her father died, Grace Shangkuan Koo, Ph.D. had set aside her mourning
just to attend her class and give an exam to her students. In fact, even when classes
are postponed, Dr. Koo would be the only teacher to still hold class. In her 13 years
of teaching, she was only absent on three occasions.
Incredible but true.
For Dr. Koo, an associate professor of Educational Psychology at the University of
the Philippines Diliman, being a teacher entails more sacrifice than any other noble
profession.
WIDE-RANGING REFORMS may be introduced in the tertiary education system starting school year
2009-2010, the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) said yesterday.
In a press conference, CHEd Chairman Emmanuel Y. Angeles said the strategic plan that will be
submitted to the President next month will upgrade tertiary education to make it at par with neighboring
countries.
"We are planning to consult with our stakeholders and get their reactions about our concerns
and proposalswhich are all geared towards promoting quality education. We are starting the national
consultation this month, and hopefully by December we could already submit the final reports and
recommendations to the President for approval," he told reporters in Quezon City.
Mr. Angeles said the plan has four major concerns, namely, faculty development, facilities development,
scholarship for poor and deserving students, and strengthening the research capability of higher
educational institutions.
He said priority will be given to teachers' pre-service training, licensure examination, and reserving some
courses only for those with a masters degree.
Mr. Angeles said CHEd is proposing the creation of the National Coordinating Council, which will draw up
common standard for accreditation of colleges and universities.
He added that centers of excellence will be supported, and incentives will be provided to schools with
accredited programs.
Mr. Angeles said CHEd also takes note of the Palace's directive to address the demand for skilled
workers.
"We will have scholarship programs for students who will take science, engineering and mathematics-
related courses," he said.
He added the government has set aside a budget to improve English instruction. "Only 10% of total
applicants to call centers actually get accepted. To support this booming industry, the government has
subsidized a program to improve English instruction in colleges."
Mr. Angeles said they are proposing that educational institutions be required to disclose annually
a business plan to generate income aside from tuition to "limit the annual increase of fees."
Another proposal is adding another year in the undergraduate course.
"Currently, we are not at par with our peers who have a 12-year education systembefore entering
universities. The entire educational system should not be less than 15 years," Mr. Angeles said.
Excluding preschool, the Philippine educational system has 10 years of basic education and four years of
tertiary education.
Mr. Angeles said by adding another academic year in the tertiary level, students will not be forced to
absorb information within only four years of college.
"Nowadays there occurs a mental indigestion... students are forced to take in everything in such a short
span of time, they do not even have enough breaks because they take classes even during the summer,"
he added.
Other recommendations subject to consultations are:
expanding options for the medium of instruction in Grade 1 such as the use of regional dialects;
requiring universities and colleges to determine admission of students based on scholastic aptitude
test scores; and reforming some curricula in the higher education (phasing out obsolete subjects and
updating textbooks).
Officials from the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines and De La Salle University said
"they have yet to study" the CHEd's proposals. — Jhoanna Frances S. Valdez
