Real challenge in Philippine education

By Ambeth Ocampo Philippine Daily Inquirer First Posted 22:42:00 01/17/2008

Filed Under: Education, history Sen. Edgardo Angara delivered the Sixth Jaime V. Ongpin Annual Memorial lecture at the Ateneo Professional Schools in Rockwell Center to a full auditorium last Wednesday. With the theme ?Education is Our Future,? he spoke about the need to nurture Science, Technology, Engineering, and Innovation (STEI) in Philippine education through massive government funding, institutional linkages, and public policy, thereby jump-starting our arrested development. Compared with other countries, we have fallen behind in this area, but that was not the depressing part of the lecture that ended with the optimistic line, ?the future is within our reach.? That education is important, that education is essential to our development as a people and a nation is an accepted fact. But the data presented by the senator on our present standing in STEI was horrendous. We have lagged a long way since Anacleto del Rosario demonstrated the use of electric light in the Ateneo Municipal in Intramuros in the late 19th century. In a dark age largely illuminated by candles, kalburo, gas and Jesuits, the first light bulb in the Philippines blazed for a few seconds creating a sensation in Manila. But what did Filipinos do with that enthusiasm? Did we develop electric light? We did nothing. References to technology in the correspondence of our heroes provide engaging reading. For example, when Jose Rizal made his first trip abroad in 1883 and took an elevator in Marseilles, he wrote home and described his first ride in a lift to his bewildered sisters in Calamba, who could not imagine what was this box that brought a passenger up and down different levels of a building without walking. Then we have Marcelo H. del Pilar who had a telephone installed in the editorial office of La Solidaridad, and wrote home to describe how his voice could travel long distances, which was beyond the imagination of his wife Tsanay in Bulacan. Emilio Aguinaldo was one of the first Filipinos to ride a submarine and an airplane, and it is unfortunate that he did not record his impressions. Airplanes, elevators, cell phones, the Internet and space travel are part of our lives today. We just have to look back to appreciate the change, to realize that the gap between science fiction and reality is fast closing While I agreed with most of the points Angara made in his long but solid lecture, I felt the real challenge lay much deeper, and was only hinted at in the lecture. Our real challenge is improving the present state of basic education. If we enumerate all the problems of Philippine education, we will take days of delight in self-flagellation that ends nowhere. Rather than complain, I teach at the Ateneo de Manila University and the University of the Philippines, if only to do my bit in the effort to shape our future. Looking at my students in the classroom, I stare literally, eyeball to eyeball with our future. It was unfortunate that no reference was made in the lecture to the 1925 report of the Monroe Commission on Philippine Education because while this may seem like an archival document, reading is humbling because we still confront the basic problems they identified in 1925. There are two ways to look at the Monroe Report. One is to praise the Monroe Commission for its foresight, because like clairvoyants they were able to see our present problems 83 years ago. The other way to interpret the report is to accept the sad fact that Philippine education has not changed very much since 1925. As I keep telling people, do not blame history for seeming to repeat itself, we are to blame because we repeat history. Education has always held out hope for the future because it creates an idea or illusion that it is a means for upward mobility. Education provides the means to go up the social and economic ladder based on merit and achievement. Education is seen as a means to break the status quo. Education tells us that things do not have to be the way they are. This may explain why Filipino parents push their children to earn university degrees despite our recent placement test results that reveal that less than 10 percent of graduating high school students have the aptitude for a university track, and that most of our graduates are better suited for entrepreneurial or vocational futures. It is unfortunate that some parents see the placement tests as discriminatory, and something that goes against the right to higher education. But then we must match desire with aptitude.

That we need STEI is not an issue. Rather we must improve our basic education -- our elementary and high school levels -- to prepare young people not just for STEI but for whatever career they have the skills for. While it is good to aspire for a university education, it has a negative side. This desire for higher learning has spawned a lucrative industry in diploma mills that should be closed. Then there are the unusual and redundant number of state colleges and universities that have sprouted like mushrooms all over the country. While many of these SUCs are doing well, these should not blind us to the fact that we are spreading our resources thinly rather than, say, investing heavily in the University of the Philippines and supporting existing campuses outside the Diliman Republic.

http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20080117-113132/Real-challenge-inPhilippine-education

The road to world-class Philippine education

BREAKTHROUGH By Elfren S. Cruz (The Philippine Star) | Updated July 4, 2013 - 12:00am googleplus

The Philippines is the ONLY country in the whole of Southeast Asia with only ten years of basic education and preuniversity education. The other countries with their corresponding duration of basic education and pre-university education are Cambodia (12 years of primary and secondary and 1 year pre-university or a total of 13 years); Laos (11 years primary and secondary and 1 year of pre-university or a total of 13 years); Myanmar (11 years of primary and secondary and 1 year of pre-university or a total of 12 years); Timor-Leste (12 years of primary and secondary); Indonesia (12 years of primary and secondary and 1 year of pre-university or a total of 13 years). The two advanced economies in SE Asia are Singapore (11 years of primary and secondary with 2-3 years of preuniversity or a total of 13-14 years) and Malaysia (11 years of primary and secondary and 2 years of pre-university or a total of 13 years). Whenever I hear people say that extending the number of years of basic education in our schools from 10 to 12 years is premature, I find this a tragic viewpoint. It means we have Filipinos who believe that we cannot even be capable of giving our young people the same duration of education as even countries poorer than ours such as Myanmar, Timor, Laos and Cambodia. The principal victims of this obviously inadequate duration are primarily the children of the poor and the middle class. The so-called exclusive schools like La Salle and Xavier have been historically offering 12 years starting with Prep to Grade 7 in elementary and 4 years in high school. The very rich send their children to foreign schools in the USA or Britain where 12 years is the basic duration. The idea of extending the duration of basic education is not new. As far back as July 28, 1949, a UNESCO Educational Commission to the Philippines released a report that included a conclusion that 6 years of elementary school and 4 years in the secondary is not adequate. The group proposed eventually this should be increased to 12 years. After almost 64 years, the 2-year extension, as proposed, finally became law. On May 15, 2013 President Benigno Aquino III signed into law Republic Act No. 10533 entitled An Act Enhancing the Philippine Basic Education System by Strengthening the Curriculum and Increasing the Number of Years for Basic Education, Appropriating Funds Therefore and for Other Purposes.

Opinion ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1

The improvement of the education program, through K to 12 will benefit not only the student but also their families. The additional 2 years has allowed the curriculum to be revised and decongested. In the old curriculum too much knowledge, skills and values were expected to be learned by students within a limited period of time. Under the new program, graduates will also be better prepared for higher studies. We have students who are entering college at the age of 15 to 16 years. In most countries, the normal age for entering college is 18 years. Under the new program, high school graduates will be better equipped to work and will, therefore, be more employable. Under the present situation, two years of college or even a college degree is required even for semi-skilled jobs. According to Secretary Luistro the implementation of the K to 12 has been carefully calibrated. When we talk of the additional 2 years, Grade 11 will be implemented in school year 2016 and grade 12 will begin in school year 2017. The change in curriculum was started two years ago and is being done grade by grade.

Secretary Luistro explains: The first graduates [of the K to 12 program] would actually be March of 2018. But if you look at the new curriculum.... those who will be graduating [grade 12] in 2018 entered Grade 7 with the new curriculum. They never went through the new curriculum from kindergarten to Grade 6. Thats what I mean by you needed a minimum of 7 years. But the real reform, the first fruits of those, we will see in the grade 1 students who started using the new curriculum 2 years ago. They will be the first graduates of the full new K to 12 curriculum. Together with the K to 12 program, the DepEd is also ensuring that by 2016 there will be no more shortages in the five learning inputs classrooms, teachers, learning materials, chairs and water and sanitation facilities. The main reason is that there is now sufficient financial support. In the past, around 10,000 additional teachers a year were being hired. This year we needed 61,500 teachers and the DepEd has already hired around 90% of this target. The K to 12 program, the revision of the curriculum, addressing the shortages and the retraining of teachers are all geared towards a world-class educational system that will graduate globally competitive Filipinos. Secretary Luistro says that his vision is a public school system whose quality will be as good as our best private schools. The program will take seven to twelve years before we see its full fruits. For the sake of a vision of a country where every Filipino is given the means to live a life of human dignity by being given the competencies to take advantage of all the opportunities available, I feel that it is only right that we have already embarked on this bold and sorely needed education reform program. Its inevitable success and fruits will prove that the Philippines can be, and will be, a world-class nation.

http://www.philstar.com/opinion/2013/07/04/961393/road-world-class-philippine-education

K-12 Changes Philippine Educational System

Posted by admin on Sep - 13 - 2012 By Erica Delos Santos Figure 1: The development of K to 12 Program has been made possible by the collaborative efforts of members of the Steering Committee which is composed of DepED, CHED, TESDA, and other stakeholders. The governments K-12 program is a much-needed change for the countrys education system. Through this program, people may expect better-trained citizens who could be competitive with the knowledge and skills of people trained abroad. Before the Implementation of the K-12 program began, the Philippines is one of the very few countries remaining that provide only ten years of basic education, six years in elementary and four years secondary. This short period makes it difficult for Filipinos to be competitive with countries like Japan or Korea, that have at least 12 years of basic education under their belt. In most cases, the extra years spent in basic education should enable students to tackle subjects like mathematics and science in more details, instead of the rushed manner used in the old education system.

Figure 2: Comparative data on duration of basic and secondary education in Asia. People can also expect that the new K-12 system will produce graduates who are more prepared for college education. The program is expected to provide a clear view of which career they would take. This may lead to less drop-outs, and more chances of success in graduating from whatever course they choose. The K-12 system is not without its critics. Some people say that it is not the number of years that should be increased, but the quality of instruction that the students receive. In a way, adding a few years to basic education can still provide the quality that students need. Now on its first year of implementation, the K-12 program is not without challenges, but it is an endeavor worth pursuing if we truly intend to improve the Philippine education system. By investing more time and resources in our education, we can expect our graduates to become competitive in the global business arena, and bring more success that would contribute towards building our nation. Figure 3: Schematic implementation plan of K to 12. Pictures and data source: K to 12 Basic Education Program brochure distributed during the 1 st National Technical Education & Skills Development Congress on August 29, 2012.

http://www.informatics.edu.ph/iconnect/k-12-changes-philippine-educational-system/

Philippine education ranked 'poor'

By Max V. de Leon, Business Mirror Posted at 06/15/2011 6:51 AM | Updated as of 06/15/2011 10:17 AM MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines ranks a poor seventh among nine Southeast Asian nations in the area of education and innovation, Guillermo M. Luz, co-chairman of the National Competitiveness Council (NCC), said. At a forum on Innovation and Entrepreneurship for a Globally Competitive Philippines on Tuesday, Luz presented the disturbing results of the 2010-2011 Global Competitiveness Report of the World Economic Forum, which showed that the Philippines only fared better than Cambodia, among the eight Southeast Asian countries that were surveyed in the fields of education, science and technology and innovation. In the area of primary education, the Philippines ranked 99th out of 138 economies. The Philippines ranked 69th in educational system, 112th in science and math, and 76th on Internet access. In all categories, the Philippines was falling behind Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. But the NCC remains confident the country can immediately make a strong headway if academe and the private sector could get their acts together and focus on a few doables. Among these things are greater university-industry collaboration in research, for instance, and the use of more technology in education. I also propose greater collaboration on strategic plans and processes for industry and government for tighter cohe sion, Luz told the BusinessMirror. For instance, Luz said, instead of spending billions of pesos for textbooks that are prone to errors and entail huge printing and transport costs, public and private schools should shift to e-books that are easier to upload and update. He said shifting to e-books is more practical nowadays, with the presence of computers in schools and the connectivity being offered by private firms. In the area of research and development, Luz said there is a noticeable low collaboration between the industries and the universities. He said schools are not too open in giving their research to the private sector. The industries, on the other hand, are not putting enough money for academic research. Right now, the research being done in schools is merely for thesis purposes. The output of the research should be given to t he industries so they can be converted into something that is useful. The private sector will then give royalties to the school. We have to create business value for the research, he said. Also, since only about 20% of the close to 25 million elementary pupils and high-school students are going to college, Luz said it is probably better to limit the number of colleges and universities. We should make better colleges rather than have too many mediocre colleges. Right now, we have about 1,700 colleges and universities. I believe we should have fewer but better universities. We should rationalize the system, he said.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/business/06/14/11/philippine-education-ranked-poor

Philippine schools race to deal with overcrowding

Free education in kindergarten, primary and secondary levels is causing challenges

By Barbara Mae Dacanay, Bureau Chief Published: 14:52 June 3, 2013 Filipino students ride a motorbike from school after the first day of a new school year at a public elementary school in Quezon City east of Manila

Manila: The start of the school season has remained chaotic despite efforts by the Philippine government to meet the challenging demands of giving free education to a growing population of students in the kindergarten, primary, and secondary levels. The Philippine government has already resolved classroom shortage in public schools fir st and secondary levels from 66,800 in 2010 to 32,900 this year. The construction of 19,500 more classrooms in one-storey story school buildings will be completed a month after the start of classes on Monday, education departments Assistant Secretary Jesus Mateo said in an interview with ANC of ABS CBN. By 2013, we will be able to address shortages in classrooms, Mateo said, adding that school lobby, library, or offices of the guidance counselor were already assigned as temporary classrooms, including several shifts of classes in several schools to accommodate a growing number of students. Overcrowding of school rooms has remained due to the growing number of students beyond the expectation of the education department, Emmalyn Policarpio, secretary general of the Teachers Dignity Coalition, also told ANC. There is a policy that public schools should not turn away parents who enrolled their children on the first day of school. Parents are allowed to enroll their children up to two weeks after the start of classes, said Policarpio, adding the real number of incoming students this year could be ascertained in two weeks. A total of 20.6 million students were enrolled this year, 1.7 million are kindergarten students, 13.3 million, elementary students, and 5,7 million, high school students. Many students who were formerly enrolled in private schools that were allowed to increase tuition fees, have transferred even earlier to public schools, resulting in bigger population in public schools, another source told Gulf News. The 1.45 per cent increase of enrolled students from last year was due to the enrollment of new students in the kindergarten level, following the implementation this year the countrys K -12 Law, which calls for kindergarten education compulsory. This could mean the education department could not yet reach its ideal ratio between student and teacher. The education department hired of 33,900 teachers last February, on top of 35,000 volunteer teachers and 37,000 more teachers paid by local government units. The government could not yet reach its ideal ratio of 1:25 ratio of teacher and students for kindergarten; 1:45 for elementary schools; and 1:50 to 55 ratio for high schools, said Luz Almeda, director of education departments national capital region,

Five pe r cent or 35 schools in Metro Manila and other urban areas are congested, said Problems of shortage could affect number of seats and textbooks for students, said Almeda, adding that this problem is currently being solved with two to three shifts of classes per day. Meanwhile, some 10,000 policemen joined the flag raising ceremonies in schools in Metro Manila, said National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Leonardo Espina. For a week, the education department has been announcing on TV and radio programmes that parents should not be coerced to pay anything for the enrollment of their children, following complaints that teachers with have been making illegal collection of fees from parents. The education department has released hotlines, land-line (02) 636-1663 and mobile number 09194560027 for complaints. This is one problem we have to solve so that parents will send their children to school and take advantage of free education, said Mateo.

http://gulfnews.com/news/world/philippines/philippine-schools-race-to-deal-with-overcrowding1.1192083