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BY
JASON(HUI SONG)
GS960:GOVERNANCE & MGT IN PHIL EDUC
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. In 2015/16 there were 14.9m children enrolled at primary
school and 6.01m at secondary level.
History
Today’s system has been shaped by the Philippines’ colonial and post-war
history. Under the Spanish, education was largely provided by missionaries
and the study of religion was compulsory, but most Filipinos were not included.
It was only in the 19th century that they were able to attend the universities that
had been established two centuries earlier, and it was only when the US took
control of the Philippines in 1898 that consideration was given to non-religious
education, English-language teaching and free primary school education for
all.
The country was ill-prepared for the sudden expansion of education and did
not have enough teachers to meet the new demand, so the colonial authorities
established a teacher-training school and brought in 1000 teachers from the
US to provide training. An emphasis on vocational and adult education was
introduced in the early 20th century, while bilingual teaching – with maths,
science and literature taught in English – was introduced under Ferdinand
Marcos in 1974. The commitment to a bilingual education and universal
access was enshrined in the 1987 constitution.
K-12 Implementation
Three years since the Enhanced Basic Education Act (EBEA, known as the
K-12 law) was signed, the Philippines has finally embarked on its most
ground-breaking change to the schooling system in decades, the K-12 reform.
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 EBEA
also mandated kindergarten as the start of compulsory formal education, while
the Kindergarten Act of 2012 made pre-school free. In August 2016, 1.5m
Filipino children attended 11th grade, with senior school students choosing
between four tracks through the system: academic, technical-vocational,
sports or the arts. Much of the opposition to the initiative, which triggered five
separate petitions to the Supreme Court, centred on whether the country’s
teachers, schools and administration were in a position to implement the
reform. President Duterte expressed scepticism about the programme before
he was elected, but changed his mind in May 2016 after a delegation from
DepEd told him that the change was necessary, as Filipino students were
falling behind their neighbours.
10-Point Plan
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: providing
education options for all out-of-school adults and young people; eliminating
drop-outs and repetition during the first three years of school; encouraging the
completion of a full cycle of basic schooling to a satisfactory level at every
grade by all Filipino children; and committing to the attainment of basic
education competencies for everyone.
In fact, recognition of the need to move towards K-12 was evident much earlier.
In 2005 the government promised, under the Basic Education Reform Agenda,
to remove all hurdles limiting access to and delivery of basic education,
whether regulatory, structural, financial or institutional. The policy involved five
key thrusts: school-based management; the development of teacher education;
national learning strategies; quality assurance and accountability; and
changes to the administration of DepEd, using the latest technology to ensure
more effective use of resources, whether staff or funds.
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. As a result, between 2010 and 2013
the student-to-teacher ratio in public high schools fell from 38:1 to 29:1, while
the student-to-classroom ratio dropped from 64:1 to 47:1. 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. It tracked 80% of the government’s national education budget, as
well as spending by local authorities, in the last quarter of 2014.
In a separate report looking at the EFA initiative, UNESCO noted that even
though the largest portion of the Philippine budget had consistently been
devoted to education, in percentage terms this fell short of international
standards, with the state spending only 2.6% of GDP on the sector in 2011.
That figure has risen over the past few years to an expected 3.5% in 2017, but
the Philippines continues to spend far less on education as a proportion of
GDP than many of its neighbours. Both Vietnam and South Korea, which have
some of the world’s best-performing schools according to international
benchmarks, spend 5% of GDP on education.
Early Encouragement
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. DepEd noted that in schools that had
adopted these practices enrolment rose and the drop-out rate fell. Minority
groups were also more confident, with Muslim children having the opportunity
to learn Arabic.
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. Schools reported increased
enrolment and participation, along with rising community awareness. Teacher
competency also improved with training in new learning strategies focused on
real-world application.
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.
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.
Regional Inequalities
“Many schools, particularly in urban areas, have insufficient and poor quality
facilities and a shortage of teachers,” the report said. “Operational funding still
falls short of the amounts that schools need to pay bills, undertake basic
repairs, and provide the day-to-day materials their students need. And there is
rarely anything left over to fund school-level initiatives to improve student
learning achievement.”
Allocation Of Funds
Teaching Standards
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.
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.
“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 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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
Outlook