I.

TOPIC PROPER

Introduction
The Philippine education system has evolved over hundreds of years of colonial
occupation, first by Spain and then by the US, through martial law and the people’s power
revolution that brought democracy to the sprawling archipelago. The education sector’s
development has mirrored the changes in the country’s administration. Today the focus is
on expanding access and ensuring more Filipinos receive a decent basic education, as a
means of reducing poverty and improving national competitiveness.
System
The Philippines has a vibrant and diverse education system, with the government,
assisted by the private sector, providing a wide range of education from early years up to
college and university across the archipelago. The Department of Education (DepEd)
oversees the provision of basic education. The private sector includes kindergartens,
international schools and religious schools.
Educational Reforms / Programs
A. K-12 Implementation
K-12 extends compulsory schooling to grades 11 and 12, adding two years to
secondary school, and makes secondary education compulsory. Prior to its implementation,
the Philippines was the only country in Asia, and one of only a few in the world, to have a
basic education system of just 10 years. The (Enhanced Basic Education System) EBEA also
mandated kindergarten as the start of compulsory formal education, while the Kindergarten
Act of 2012 made pre-school free.
Indeed, increased spending on basic education – including an expanded Alternative
Learning System (ALS) – is a centrepiece of the new president’s 10-point socio-economic
agenda. President Duterte insists that the development of the Philippines’ human capital is a
priority of his administration.
Building on existing programmes, the education secretary, Leonor Briones, said that
the Duterte administration’s education policy intends to ensure that the country provides a
quality education that is accessible to all and relevant to the needs of the nation. Filipinos
should also find education “truly liberating” through the development of critical thinking skills
and an appreciation of culture and the arts.
B. 10-Point Plan
The shift to K-12 began under President Duterte’s predecessor, Benigno Aquino III,
who approached education as an investment in Filipinos, and offered a 10-point plan for
improving education as part of his election campaign.
As well as K-12, the 10 fixes included pre-schooling for all, technical-vocational
training as an alternative in senior high school, working with local governments to build new
schools, proficiency in science and maths, and working with private schools as “essential
partners” in basic education. The plan is to expand the Government Assistance to Students
and Teachers in Private Education, supporting as many as 1m students at private high
schools through the Education Service Contracting Scheme.
C. Education For All
In 2015 the Education for All (EFA) initiative included provisions to ensure all Filipinos
were able to achieve what UNESCO calls “functional literacy”, the ability to read, write and
do calculations at a level that is sufficient for the country in which a particular person lives.
 Further supporting the K-12 reform, the government set four key objectives for the
EFA initiative:
a. providing education options for all out-of-school adults and young people;
b. eliminating drop-outs and repetition during the first three years of school;
c. encouraging the completion of a full cycle of basic schooling to a satisfactory level
at every grade by all Filipino children; and
d. committing to the attainment of basic education competencies for everyone.
D. World Bank Assessment
In June 2016 the World Bank published its assessment on the Philippines reform of
basic education, “Assessing Basic Education Service Delivery”, noting that reforms were now
backed with a substantial increase in funding, after years of underinvestment exacerbated
by average population growth in excess of 2%.
The World Bank estimates that public spending increased by 60% in real terms
between 2010 and 2015, helping finance infrastructure improvements and provide the means
to hire more teachers. However, “despite impressive recent increases, the Philippines still
spends less on education than many neighbouring and middle-income countries,” the study
noted. “Recent analysis has confirmed the need for more spending to meet national
education norms and standards.”
The World Bank study was commissioned by DepEd to assess how the public budget
was being used, in order for funds to be allocated more efficiently and effectively.
E. Early Encouragement
DepEd itself assessed the implementation of K-12 at a January 2017 conference with
stakeholders including government officials, school administrators and teachers.
Among the encouraging news, it found that the situation in kindergartens had
improved, with a more localised curriculum, the construction of clean, safe and child-friendly
classrooms, and closer cooperation with the community. Children were developing a love of
reading, while teachers’ skills had been enhanced via use of technology and the adoption of
more effective teaching strategies.
For grades one to six, best practice included a curriculum more suited to the needs of
Christian and Muslim pupils, closer cooperation with indigenous communities, the provision
of self-paced learning materials, catch-up programmes at all levels and the introduction of
Learning Action Cell sessions for teachers’ professional development.
Junior high schools also focused on programmes to reduce the drop-out rate and
nurture continued learning, including the use of ALS through a virtual classroom, a basic
literacy programme for adults, and scholarships for adult learners and students with special
needs.
In senior high schools, where the full roll-out of grade 12 is now taking place, DepEd
said that the policy has been largely successful, noting the transfer of junior high school
teachers to fill vacancies, and improved cooperation both between local and national
government, and with the private sector on the provision of facilities, including classrooms
and dormitories for pupils living in remote areas. A large percentage of those enrolled in
private schools received vouchers, with scholarships also available.
F. Raising Standards
Much of the official discussion on K-12 centres on the need to raise standards, improve
teacher quality and encourage completion of basic schooling. The drop-out rate has remained
high, and data from the “Functional Literacy, Education and Mass Media Survey” produced
by the Philippine Statistics Authority, shows that around 4m children and young people were
out of school in 2013, while as of April 2016, 16.6m Filipinos – or 39% of the workforce –
had not completed basic education. The World Bank noted continuing problems with access
and inequality. The report found that only 53% of the poorest 20% of households sent their
children to high school, while 81% of the wealthiest families did so. To address the problem,
the government aims to incentivise attendance, extend school feeding programmes and
expand programmes under the ALS, a “second chance” designed to ensure more Filipinos
complete their basic education.
President Duterte has indicated that an enhanced ALS – better targeted with wider
coverage, more partnerships and approaches that meet learners’ needs – will be one of his
administration’s major legacies.

G. Allocation Of Funds
More effective targeting of funds to the areas of greatest need is therefore a priority
alongside an overall increase in budget allocations. Briones told the Education Summit in
November 2016 there is “a need for a drastic improvement in absorptive capacity”.
The Duterte administration is planning to introduce a series of financial management
reforms to improve education outcomes, including:
a. enhanced leadership supervision and oversight over finance, administration and
procurement;
b. the creation of an education programme delivery unit to monitor budget execution
and intervene to ensure funds move smoothly to where they are needed;
c. a financial management information system to track budget spending in real time;
and
d. a more proactive approach to spending.

H. Teaching Standards
In the past, teaching was poorly paid and often seen as the fall-back course for
university applicants who did not get onto their preferred course. Studies found teacher
knowledge in both elementary and high school was low, and that the professional
development programmes were insufficient.
In recent years DepEd has introduced a number of measures to improve the standard
of teaching, revising professional benchmarks and providing more on-the-job training. It has
also made a concerted effort to attract the brightest and the best by raising compensation
and making the selection process more competitive.
I. Meeting National Needs
The government insists that the education system must be more appropriate to the
needs of the country, including its economy. The aim is to improve students’ abilities in
science and technology, and nurture critical thinking, creativity and entrepreneurial spirit, as
well as to encourage them to support the wider community, especially those on the margins.
Sex education, along with awareness of the issues surrounding teenage pregnancy
and the dangers of drugs (from grade four), will be strengthened, and there will be a special
emphasis on the environment, climate change and disaster preparedness in a country that
has frequently endured earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and severe weather.
To achieve these goals, the government is overhauling the curriculum to establish a
“spiral” approach, which is designed to challenge and stimulate pupils so that they develop
critical thinking skills. DepEd consulted industry during the development of the new
curriculum, although the final design was the work of DepEd alone. Those learning science
under the spiral approach, for example, learn general science, biology, chemistry and physics
 on a per quarter basis. The basics are taught in grade seven, with more complicated theories
added as pupils progress through subsequent grades.
J. Higher Education
The Philippines is one of the few countries where the number of private higher
education institutions and students enrolled there is greater than in the state sector. Leading
private universities, such as the University of Santo Tomas, were established hundreds of
years before their public sector counterparts – although Filipinos were not allowed to attend
until the 19th century – while the University of the Philippines, the archipelago’s leading state
university, was set up in 1908, when the country was under US control.
National government spending on the tertiary education segment has risen in recent years, but at
12.2% of the sector budget, spending remains below the international benchmark of 15-20%. The
2017 allocation reflects a government decision to scrap tuition fees at all state universities and colleges.
However, students will still need to pay their living expenses with grants and other forms of aid available
to those from low-income families.
“In the short term, this will incrementally improve enrolment rates, and will help free up financial
resources for other college expenses and needs of the students,” Patricia Licuanan, chair of the
Commission on Higher Education (CHED), said in a statement after the budget was passed in
December. “From a wider perspective, this amount will eventually increase the available income of
families.”
The Philippine higher education system is managed by CHED and the Technical Education and Skills
Development Authority (TESDA). The country’s 228 state universities and colleges, which had 1.88m
students in the 2015/16 academic year, are operated and subsidised by the government, with each
university run by a board of regents and a board of trustees supervised by the chair of CHED. Local
government units can also establish local universities. The state universities and colleges have a total
of 454 satellite campuses, according to CHED.
The 1706 private universities and colleges, which have a total of 2.22m students, are generally much
smaller, are governed under the Corporation Code and can be non-profit religious institutions or for-
profit secular colleges. The greatest density of higher education institutions is in the south of the largest
island of Luzon, including Manila. In 2015/16, 26% of students (1.07m) were enrolled in business-
related courses, followed by 19% (791,000) studying education and teaching, and 13% (517,000) on
courses in engineering and technology.
K. Quality Of Instruction
Despite the size of the higher education sector, the quality of instruction remains low, according to the
Asian Development Bank (ADB). In professional board examinations, for instance, median pass rates
between 2005 and 2015 ranged from 34% to 43%. The ADB also noted a “worrisome preponderance”
within both the state and private sector of institutions with a pass rate of zero, “indicative of a large
number of low-quality higher education institutions.”
“CHED has instituted a vertical/horizontal typology approach to assess the quality of higher educational
institutions,” Caroline Marian Enriquez, president of Our Lady of Fatima University, told OBG. “However,
given that the current university landscape is composed of over 2000 institutions of very uneven quality,
some of the standards may be too stringent or not applicable to the core competencies of certain
institutions.”
The government has been trying to rationalise the state sector by putting a halt to the establishment
of new course programmes by state universities and local colleges that do not meet the standards set
by CHED, by encouraging rationalisation and hopefully reducing course duplication. It is also trying to
raise standards through the introduction of quality institutional sustainability assessment.
“For the government to truly improve the quality assurance system of education, it should provide
strong data on the performance of schools. Once analysis is provided on the 10 best- or worst-
performing schools, the market will be able to decide based on this information,” Chito Salazar,
president and CEO of Phinma Education, told OBG PHILIPPINE QUALIFICATIONS FRAMEWORK: In
addition, the government has enhanced the Philippine Qualifications Framework (PQF) to put it in line
with the ASEAN Qualifications Reference Framework and ensure academic programmes meet
international standards. “The PQF can significantly reduce jobs-skills mismatch. It can also boost
international confidence among Filipino workers by making them more competitive and employable,”
Senator Joel Villanueva, a former TESDA director-general, said in August 2016 (see analysis).
The government is committed to creating a system that is more aligned to 21st
century needs, positioning higher education as an accelerator for innovation and inclusive
development. It is encouraging cooperation between academia and industry, supporting
the professional development of teaching and research staff who want to complete their
doctorate, and promoting research cooperation between institutions and across borders.
Already, courses in subjects including meteorology, business analytics and naval
architecture have been developed with industry, and a degree in health informatics is
under development.
L. Lingua Franca Project
This a pilot project which aims to define and implement a national bridging
program from the vernacular (Tagalog, Ilocano, and Cebuano) to Filipino and later to
English. Through the bridging program, the lingua franca will be used as the language of
instruction to acquire basic literacy and numeracy skills.
M. Multigrade Program in Philippine Education (MPPE)
This is supported by UNDP and UNICEF which aims to maximize the utilization of
existing physical and manpower resources in order to expand the delivery of services
where there are small class sizes.
N. Project RISE (Rescue Initiatives in Science Education)
This program, initiated by DepEd and Department of Science and Technology
(DOST) aims at enhancing the teaching capabilities of Science and Mathematics teachers
at both elementary and secondary level. Participants are Grade 3 teachers at the
elementary level and General science and Mathematics I teachers at the secondary level.
Non-major teachers are given first priority.
O. Early Childhood Development Program
This is aimed at ensuring that pupils entering Grade 1 have appropriate
preparatory learning experience.
P. Research Partnerships
Research and development (R&D) has also been a focus in areas such as food security,
the environment and natural disasters, biodiversity and health systems in order to support
the Duterte administration’s socio-economic objectives. As part of the push for reform, the
government is keen to encourage increased private investment and internationalisation in
higher education.
Some institutions already partner with overseas universities on select courses, while the Philippine-
California Advanced Research Institute (PCARI) was initiated in 2013 by the scientific community and
academics to boost the country’s research capacity by supporting post-doctoral scholars and R&D
proposals with the potential to address the Philippines’ developmental issues.
The PCARI’s R&D projects involve 15 private institutions working with partners at the University of
California, and include work on traffic management in urban areas, the development of affordable solar
energy systems for remote areas, and improving local capacity to design and develop medical devices.
 II. ISSUES WITH THE TOPIC
A. Low achievement levels of students
B. Teacher Qualifications
C. Overloaded Curriculum
D. Innovation and Technology
E. Focus reform efforts on schools, Not teachers

Closing Statement..
Educators need to make use of the best data science has to offer in terms of the programs that should
be used to achieve our goals. And what message is provided by these data? First, educators need to
specify goals and objectives and commit the resources to measuring them on a systematic basis. These
results need to be reported to the public in a timely and meaningful fashion, not just once a year in
the local newspaper. Goals need to be broader than simply scores on a standardized achievement test-
-they need to encompass other factors that research has demonstrated lead to life and work success.
Second, educators need to coordinate their efforts with the contributions made by the home, religious
organizations, and community. The synergetic use of all resources will provide a better result than
attempting to meet our goals using only the school’s resources. Third, educators need to focus their
efforts on improving schools; focusing on teachers, especially teacher knowledge or credentials, has
not produced the same impact on student achievement. And finally, educators need to hold schools
accountable for adding value over and above that contributed by the family, by religious organizations,
and by the community. Simply because a school has students with high test scores does not mean it
is a well-functioning institution.
III. REFERENCES
https://oxfordbusinessgroup.com/overview/thorough-examination-substantial-
reform-has-brought-it-variety-challenges
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/284170460_REFORMS_ISSUES_AND_CHA
LLENGES_IN_PHILIPPINE_EDUCATION
https://www.manilatimes.net/reforming-the-ph-education-system/407929/