● Health and Education

The situation of limited and severely restricted government’s budget is common in many

nations. When it comes to the question of whether health or education should be primarily

funded, a hot debate occurs among people who support education and those who oppose it.

From

my perspective, education plays a more crucial role in a country’s sustainable development.

To begin with, education is the basic need of people and the society as a whole. On one

hand, people need it not only because of the knowledge acquisition, but also because it

provides

them with essential skills like presentation, teamwork or first aid. On the other hand, academic

achievements also help them to choose suitable jobs after graduating. When citizens are

welleducated and civilized, social issues such as unemployment as well as criminal rate will be

less

burdensome on society. Without social evils, the country will be able to develop faster.

Additionally, while funding healthcare can solve short-term issues, education is the longterm

investment that leads to a nation’s sustainable development. A popular English proverb

stated: “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for

lifetime”. Similar to “teach a man to fish”, equipping citizens with knowledge will merit a

society greatly. Educated people will become the main workforce that helps earning income for

the government’s budget. Moreover, investing in education is an indirect way to develop

healthcare, as scientists and health experts will be encouraged to do more research to better

the

country’s healthcare systems.

In conclusion, education should be primarily funded as it is people’s basic need, and the
investment that ensures a nation’s sustainable future. However, health should also be

considered

equally important if the government has strong financial ability.

Health as a basic human right is enshrined in the 1987 Philippine

Constitution (Article II, Section 15), which declares “the State shall

protect and promote the right to health of the people and instil health

consciousness among them”. Under this mandate, the DOH, as the

national technical authority on health, has the responsibility to ensure the

highest achievable standards of health care, from which LGUs, NGOs, the

private sector and other stakeholders anchor their health programmes

and strategies (Office of the President of the Philippines, 1999). The

DOH provides national policy direction and strategic plans, regulatory

services, standards and guidelines for health, and highly specialized

and specific tertiary-level hospital services. It provides leadership,

technical assistance, capacity-building, linkages and coordination with

other National Government agencies, LGUs and private entities in the

implementation of national legislation on health.