Professional Documents
Culture Documents
CARMELA O. MEJIAS
ID NO. 05934
OR NO.484631
PERMIT NO.192666
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
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.
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.
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
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: enhanced leadership supervision and oversight over
finance, administration and procurement; the creation of an education
programme delivery unit to monitor budget execution and intervene to ensure
funds move smoothly to where they are needed; a financial management
information system to track budget spending in real time; and a more proactive
approach to spending.
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 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.
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 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
Instruction: Essay
1. In not less than 2 pages of long bond paper (using bookman old style
font, 12 font size, 1.5 space between lines, 1-inch margin in all sides)
State and discuss some challenges in basic education in terms of access,
quality, relevance and governance. What are the possible interventions,
and remedies to be instituted to address these challenges in order to
improve its access, quality, governance and relevance in basic education
of our country?
Note: At the top of your paper, please indicate the subject, your name, student
ID, exam permit number, official receipt number. Your answers need to be
submitted to my email address at nelscardentelopez@gmail.com on or before
October 31,2019. For guidance.