The State of the Philippines Education System

by ERNESTO T. SOLIDUM

The State of the Philippines Education System was the main topic of discussion during the June 20 Kapehan Sa Aklan. Members of the panel are the top educators of the Province of Aklan. They are shown above who are (l to r) Dr. Ersyl Biray, Dr. Benny A. Palma, Atty. Allen S. Quimpo, Ms. Virgenita Nabor, and Mr. Michael Rapiz.

Weekly Kapehan guests on June 20, 2009 discussed the topic, "The State of Education in Aklan". Panelists were Dr. Benny A. Palma, president, Aklan State University (ASU); Dr. Ersyl T. Biray, VP for Academic Affairs, ASU; Virgenita M. Nabor, Educ. Supervisor, DepEd; Michael T. Rapiz, Educ. Supervisor; DepEd; and Atty. Allen S. Quimpo, president, Northwestern Visayan Colleges (NVC).

Dr. Palma, announced that the UP Law Center has authored a proposal for Congress to overhaul the sputtering educational system in the country. A formidable feature is returned to the basics, i.e. 3R’s which were proven effective during the Philippine Common-wealth. This came at the heels of the tumultuous setbacks encountered by OFW’s and lackluster performance of our international mathe-matics and science graduates who placed at bottom line among 45 countries evaluated. The Philippines placed 41st in Mathematics and 42nd in Science. Practically, the Pilipinos lost their competitive edge, sapped their energies on non-essentials and they no longer dominate potential job markets abroad, Dr. Palma pointed out.

The Philippines nursing curriculum must be upgraded such that internship training of two years added to regular four years course is adopted for the benefit of applicants seeking greener pastures abroad like the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. Otherwise, Pilipino present graduates will end up as nursing aides. Com-paratively, developed countries prescribed 11 years education for its youth while developing countries like the Philippines has only 10. The current status of master’s degree course in the Philippines is equivalent to a college degree in the US, he averred.

Dr. Biray said that ASU, one of the performing schools in the country is implementing flagship program located in its five campuses namely: a) Banga Main–Gen. Educ. Curriculum, School of Mgt. Services and Veterinary Medicine, b) New Washington – College of Fisheries and Marine Sciences, c) Kalibo – Industrial Education, Engineering and Architecture, d) Ibajay – Tourism (Hotel and Restaurant Management) and e) Makato – Teacher Education and (site of Aklan Sports Center). (ASU Board of Trustees and management may have forgotten that agriculture is the flagship courses.)

Adopted slogan is "One University, one Educational System", a concept where standard of education is uniform all throughout its flagship programs. This includes grading system, school uniform, basic textbook/references, examinations, and others. The focus has been on development of well rounded personality that inculcates moral values, discipline and skills training, said Dr. Biray.

On basic education, Ms. Nabor cited that DepEd has a vision for global competitiveness, adhering to excellence. In its roster are 321 primary schools, 73 Elem. Schools, and 68 High Schools. The teaching competencies of teachers are continuously upgraded. There are special programs for fast and slow learners and for those with learning disabilities. They also dispense with the P5,000 subsidy given to each student enrolled in private secondary schools, according to Ms. Nabor.

Mr. Rapiz discussed DepEd’s commitment to public education by opening nine (9) integrated schools, three (3) libraries, extension schools, early childhood education (3-5 years old) and Alternative Learning Systems.

Major Revamp

Atty. Quimpo is advocating for a major revamp of the educational system. According to him the present educational system is inept, ineffective and out of focus, the former Chairman of the Committee on Education in the House of Representatives said. He cited the Monroe Report on the State of Education in 1917 which has practically remained the same all these years. The nagging cause is the public expenditures for education remaining static at 2.1 percent of GNP while the neighboring countries spend an average of six (6) percent. The UNESCO prescribes the minimum of six (6) percent of GNP to insure quality education (by adequate financing).

The NVC president said, despite the presence of international research institutions such as IRRI, SEAFDEC and our UPLB and Philrice, only a handful of beneficiaries are taking advantage by using matured technologies out of voluminous research findings and recommendation. This makes the gap between the rich and poor more skewed than ever, stressed Quimpo.

One interesting proposal Atty. Allen S. Quimpo is pushing, is to adopt the business and academic sectors’ endorsement to elect a president of the Philippines in 2010 whose academic background, training and experience are on education. We do not know who the person is, the most favored to fill in the shoe considering the high stakes involved. Probably, a respected personality from academe who has shown concrete accomplishments in education field can just do the job.

Education laws granting free elementary and secondary education seem to be ineffective. Out of the 100 pupils who enroll in Grade I, only 43 will finish Grade VI; 21 will finish high school and only 16 will finish college degrees. A heavy school dropout is closely associated with school contributions, poverty, disease, malnutrition, and distance of home to school.

DepEd may not have shortage of classrooms since kids are packed like sardines 45-60 in crowded, damped and unlighted atmosphere. Yet, they acknowledged that out of 20,000 needed mentors nationwide, this year only 13,000 were approved. Teachers’ plan to seek employment abroad may be frozen by pending Salary Standardization Law which is due to be implemented July 2009.

Addressing the financial crisis and object poverty we are in, one anonymous writer said that while our natural resources are finite, our mental capabilities are not. How true? Our nearest neighbor Japan is practically devoid of natural resources but because of tech-nological prowess of its people, the nation has become ex-ceedingly rich and powerful. The Philippines can follow Japan’s noble example of planned prosperity if only our educational system is fine tuned to the needs, problems, and aspirations of her people. /MP