Vignettes on Education Surveys and Premises for Reforms

This Chapter highlights the survey and studies leading to educational reforms
and renewed interest in issues of quality performance resulting from quality monitoring
(supervision). Effectiveness and efficiency of schools were linked to accountability of
educational leaders.
The educational sector, along with other government instrumentalities and
agencies, are tasked to contribute to the achievement of the national development
goals. These goals are espoused in the country’s development plan drawn by the
National Economic and Development Authority, the national planning body in the
Philippines.
The goals that are specific to education are defined in Article XIV, Section 3 of
the 1987 Philippine Constitution. Section 3 mandates:
All educational institutions shall include the study of the Constitution as part of
the curriculum. They shall indicate patriotism and nationalism, foster love of humanity,
respect for human rights, appreciation of the role of the national heroes in the historical
development of the country, teach the rights and duties of citizenship, strengthen
ethical and spiritual values, develop moral character and personal disciple, encourage
critical and creative thinking, broaden scientific and technological knowledge end
promote vocational efficiency.
The goals of education at the regional level reflect those at the national level but
are modified to suit local conditions and concerns. Reforms in elementary and
secondary education including national and international funded programs gave impetus
to the implementation of plans and projects.
1970 Presidential Commission to Survey Philippine Education
In 1970 the Presidential Commission to Survey Philippine Education (PCSPE)
came out with a vital document entitled Education for National Development: New
Patterns, New Directions. The Commission was charged with the responsibility of
undertaking a thorough study and assessment of Philippine education in order to
analyze the system’s performance and relevance to national development goals, to
ascertain and recommend ways and means for improving its efficiency within the limits
of available resources and to identify critical areas in Philippine education requiring
more detailed study.
The Commission noted the strength of the Philippine educational system which
flowed from the virtually unanimous high regard in which schooling was held by the
people, resulting in some of the highest enrolment ratios in the world and supported by
relatively high levels of public and private expenditures on education. The Commission,
likewise, noted the forces and circumstances which had attenuating effects on the
system’s capacity to meet peremptory development needs and which mitigated the
optimization of social benefits that could be expected from the system like: (1) the
objectives prescribed for Philippine education , which served as goals of the entire
social system and were unachievable aims for the educational system alone; (2) the
apparent purpose of the education system in practice which primarily prepared the
student for the next high year of schooling instead of preparing him for a worthwhile
place in society, and (3) the rapid state of population increase, which continues to
create tremendous pressures on school facilities and resources.
The Commission further noted the serious distortions and imbalance between
popular expectations and educational standards, facilities and enrolment, supply of
graduates and demand for specific manpower skills and location of educational facilities
and actual regional development needs.
Expressly recommended by the PCSPE was the restructuring of the educational
ladder at the elementary and secondary levels – 6 years of the elementary and 5 years
of secondary. Under the proposal, the three years of the secondary level would provide
a core program which would serve as firm basis for streaming the students into an
academic set or a vocational/technical set. The last two years would provide either
college preparation or terminal training for employment and/or further training in post-
secondary course designed to produce skilled and technician manpower.
Two other policy recommendations stood out: that a nationwide network of
comprehensive secondary schools be organized and that strong counselling and
guidance services be developed and established in all high schools. Comprehensive high
schools were established even without piloting the set-up so that quite a number were
only component would ensure that grouping of students to academic and vocational
streams would not be arbitrary, but again much had to be desired to label the program
as effective.
The PCSPE came up with a strong statement that “secondary education was
widely believed to be the weak link in the educational ladder.” The people
involved in secondary education labored to improve the curriculum and came up with
the 2-2 Plan form 1958 to 1972 but due to lack of teacher training and physical facilities
support as well as the culture bias on vocational education the desired change was not
effected. The 2-2 Plan was replaced by the Revised Secondary Education Program
(RSEP) in 1973 and the New Secondary Education Curriculum (NSEC) in 1989.
Another milestone in Philippine Secondary education was the enabling act
providing free secondary education in government schools effective in June, 1988. This
is in accordance with the Constitutional mandate of providing free secondary education
to the Filipino youth of high school age. In its third year (SY 1991-92) there was a
noted increase of about 8 % in the participation rate in the government secondary
schools.
Problems of oversized classes and lack of classrooms and teachers emerged. As
is this was not enough, the clamor from the local government units for the
establishment of high schools in almost every municipality added to the pressure. Due
to budgetary constraints, a program known as Educational Service Contracting (ESC) is
being implemented whereby excess students who can no longer be accommodated in
government schools, are admitted in the private schools with the government paying
the students, tuition fees. Hopefully, this set-up would ease congestion in government
secondary schools, thereby maximizing resources in the non-government high schools.
As of School Year 1990-1991 about 52,261 first year students were ESC beneficiaries.
In 1992 the Philippines provides free textbooks on a 1:1 basic aside from free
tuition in government secondary schools. The raised the participation rate to about 10-
20% and would hopefully reduce dropout rate from 5.8 to 3 %.
While providing to access to free secondary education in the rural areas the
government thrust on quality education is being sustained.
At the time of the survey and four years before the enactment of RA 6655 which
nationalized all secondary schools and mandated free secondary education, the
capability of the Philippine secondary education sector was being stretched to the
breaking point. It was projected that the first batch of elementary school graduates
under the Program for Decentralized Educational Development (PRODED) would be
about 4.0 million compared with 2.9 million in 1984. This would mean a corresponding
increase in the secondary school enrolment. It was further predicted that teachers and
financing would become inadequate and would be strained to the limit within the
decade.
There was low performance of the secondary education sector, much had to be
desired as far as quality education was concerned. This is supported by research
findings revealing the need for higher critical, logical thinking skills, communication
skills for tertiary education, values development and general manipulative skills for the
world of work.
The Report projected that due to financial difficulties provincial students would
remain in the government schools and families would move away from private schools
to enter less expensive public schools.
Job opportunities for high school students and graduates were predominantly in
the lower occupation groups particularly in the service workers group – 17.2 %;
production and related workers group with 16.8 %; and in the sales group – 16.4 %.
Elementary Education
 The Final Report on the New Elementary Education Curriculum records the
historical background of the reform, to wit:
The need for reforms in elementary education became imperative when the
results of Survey of Outcomes in Elementary Education (SOUTELE) came out. A
significant finding for example, clearly showed that the average sixth grader across the
nation has mastered only 50 % of what he was expected to learn and that the learned
subjects were the 3R’s.
Experimental Elementary Education Program (EEEP).To implement the
recommendation of SOUTELE, the Experimental Elementary Education in 1978. It was
conducted for two years on an experiemental basis. Involved were 1,500 classes in 125
school divisions throughout the country. The EEEP offered fewer subjects in Grades I-
III thereby allotting more time to the development of the basic skills, traditionally called
the 3R’s in the lower grades.
The results of the EEEP pointed to the viability of the experimental curriculum in
developing the communications skills of children in view of the reduction of the number
of subjects and the increased time for instruction. The findings showed that the EEEP, if
improved and refined, could produce better results in terms of pupil achievement in
comparison to the 1970 Revised Education Program.
The findings of these major researches strengthened more than ever previous
indications that elementary education can stand considerable improvement. Among
other things, these studies gave directions to the development of the 1983 new
curriculum.
Program for Comprehensive Elementary Education (PROCEED). The
impact of the aforementioned researches paved the way for the development of a 10-
year (1980-1990) Program for Comprehensive Elementary Education now better known
for its acronym, PROCEED.
The Program for Decentralized Education Development (PRODED). To
serve as launching pad for the major reform envisioned in PROCEED, a Program for
Decentralized Educational Development which became well-known for its acronym
PRODED was installed. PRODED actually covers the first 4 years of the 10-year
development program PROCEED. PRODED is a World Bank-assisted project geared
towards the improvement of the elementary education sector with focus on upgrading
the quality of education and increasing pupil participation and survival rates. This
program also attempted to address disparities between and within regions in the
delivery of services and the location of resources according to the degree of education
deprivation of each region.
 The Philippines- Australia Project in Basic Education (PROBE) is a 5-year
education project jointly funded by the Republic of the Philippines and the Government
of Australia through the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID).
PROBE activities were initiated in February 1996 and concluded in 2001.
PROBE (Walsh) aims to improve basic education in English, Mathematics and
Science through upgrading teaching skills. The project worked with 906 schools; 588
elementary schools, 300 secondary schools in Regions II, VII, IX, X and XIII as well as
14 teacher education institutions (TEI’s) – three in each region and two in the National
Capital Region. The pupil target groups in the schools are:
ENGLISH
Elementary Grades 1 to 6
Secondary Years 1 to 4
SCIENCE & MATHEMATICS
Elementary Grades 5 and 6
Secondary Years 1 and 2
The 14 TEI’s provided improved teacher preparation programs in English,
Mathematics and Science as well as additional support for the in-service component of
the project.
PROBE was designed around four Components which became increasingly
overlapping as the project developed and this fusion was deliberately fostered since it
was unrealistic and certainly not sensible to keep them separated. The four components
were: 1) preservice teacher education 2) in-service teacher education 3) teacher
resource materials 4) project management and monitoring.
This section focuses on the discussion of secondary education “widely believed to
be the weak link in the education ladder.” (PCSPE)
Secondary Education
Curriculum-wise, there were two types of high schools offering a general
education program, and the special high schools offering a special curriculum (science,
arts, or vocational curricula). There are more secondary schools offering the general
education program.
On the basis of funding, schools are either government-supported or privately-
funded. Since the nationalization of barangay high schools in 1989, there are now 3,394
government schools (public) and 2,15 private high schools, 60 % of which are in the
rural areas.
 There are provisions for secondary education outside the formal system. The
Continuing Learning Delivery System now referred to as Alternative Learning System
(ALS) is a scheme developed by the Bureau of Nonformal Education (now Bureau of
Alternative Learning System) to help out-of-school youth to finish high school. Learning
modules are used as the instructional delivery system.
Organizationally, the Philippine educational system is decentralized. The central
office or national office is basically engaged in policy formulation, while the regional and
the division offices are implementing bodies. Supervision of schools is done at the
regional and sub-regional levels.
The education sector is country’s biggest employer. In SY 1991-1992, the public
secondary school system had at teaching force of 87,001.
The profile of the secondary school teachers is as follows:
1) majority are females (75 %)
2) one hundred percent have a teacher certificate; and
3) sixty percent are bachelor degree holders and forty percent have post
graduate degrees.
In mid-1987, the salaries of public secondary school teachers were nationalized.
Starting 1988, maintenance and other operating expenses were funded by the national
government.
The 1987 Constitution provides for free secondary education. This is to widen the
base of literacy which was placed at 89.8% in 1989. A major drawback, however, is
that secondary education, albeit free, is not compulsory.
To assist poor but deserving students, the government provides scholarship such
as the Selected Ethnic Groups Educational Assistance, and Privileges of
Sanggunian/Baranggay Officials.
As of School Year 1991-92 enrolment in government secondary schools reached
2,695,541 while private high schools registered an enrolment of 1,512,610.
Some basic statistics regarding attendance are the following:
1) Transition rate from elementary to secondary is 81.95 %
2) Enrolment rate is 65.48%
3) Completion rate is 71.57%
Students drop-out for a variety of reasons, the major ones being financial
problems, change of residence and illness.
 Curriculum Development at the secondary level is the responsibility of the Bureau
of Secondary Education (BSE) in consultation with government and non-government
sectors, practitioners and field personnel. The Bureau, performing basically a staff
function, defines the desired learning competencies for the different year levels,
conceptualizes the structure of the curriculum and formulates national curricular
policies. These functions are exercised in consultation with other agencies and sectors
of society, e.g. industry, socio-civic groups, teacher training institutions, professional
organizations, school administrators, parents, students, etc.
The subject offerings, credits points and time allotments for the different are
determined at the national level. In this sense, there exist in the Philippines a national
curriculum, schools, however, are given the option to make modifications on the
national curriculum (e.g., content and in teaching strategies) to ensure that the
curriculum responds to local concerns.
The curriculum is continuously undergoing reforms to ensure its relevance to
changing needs and demands. The educational program at the secondary level
addressees its self to meeting the needs of the learners, the curriculum has been so
designed to ensure that the students upon graduation from secondary school shall have
learned how to learn more content, acquire and attain academic excellence as well as
the capability to cope with new knowledge and technology.
Other than the formal subjects, students are encourage to participate in co-
curricular activities. Classroom learning points are given for participation in co-curricular
activities, and these points are considered in the selection of honor students. Co-
curricular activities are managed by students for students with the teacher as
facilitator/moderator.
Some innovative teaching-learning strategies communicative approach
integrative approach and experiential approach (especially in values education).
As for instructional materials, the government has established the instructional
materials corporation. This agency is responsible for the development, printing and
distribution of quality textbooks and other instructional materials.
Applicants for the teachers training programs must have completed secondary
education and must obtain at least percentile rank of 55 in the National College
Entrance Examination (NCEE).
The 4- year degree program in teacher education consist of 99 units (52 % ) of
general education courses, 32 units (22%) professional education courses and 30-45
units (25%) of specialization courses. The specialization courses offered under the
degree program, correspond to the curriculum offering at the secondary level.
 To be able to teach in public secondary schools, teacher applicants must have
obtained a degree in Bachelor of Secondary Education (BSEd). They must, in addition,
have passed the civil service examination for teachers.
As a matter of policy, the government believes in the continuous upgrading of
teachers competencies, for the quality of the educational program depends largely on
teacher quality In-service training is, therefore, conducted in national, regional, division
and school levels. In addition, professional teacher organization hold either annual and
biennial conferences, seminars and workshops, designed to train teachers on the latest
trends and developments in their respective fields of specialization.
Some problems confronting teachers are low salaries (the average pay is 3,317
pesos or about 120.35 dollars monthly), heavy workloads, large classes and inadequate
instructional materials. These problems are basically rooted in inadequate support for
education.
The most serious problem relative to students assessment are lack of financial
support, lack of qualified test construction personnel and difficulties in assessing
affective learnings.
Teachers are assessed qualitatively during the school year through classroom
observations conducted by the principal, department head/subject coordinator of the
division supervisor. The classroom observation generally focuses on the strong and
weak points of the teacher. A post-conference follows the classroom observation during
which the observer discusses with the teacher his/her observations and comments.
Presently, there is a trend towards collaborative monitoring of teaching learning.
No numerical or descriptive rating is involved and the focus of observation is the
teaching-learning process.
Principal are assessed basically on the basis of their administrative leadership
ability. Assessment consist paper-and-pencil test and interviews. The approach has
ensured that those promoted are capable.
School assessment with regards to facilities is at the discretion of the regional
director. Generally, it is the division or the regional office that inspects the school
buildings and facilities.
Rural Education at the Secondary Level
Before World War II in 1941, secondary schools were established only in
provincial capitals and chartered cities in the Philippines. Towards the end of the war in
1943-1944 the government allowed the establishment of provincial high schools outside
the provincial capitals and even municipalities which became known as provincial and
municipal high schools, respectively. These schools were locally funded, meaning the
provincial high schools were funded by the provincial government and municipal high
schools by the municipal government.
In 1962 there was a strong sentiment o make secondary education accessible to
the rural folks. The enactment of the Republic Act No. 6054 providing for a Barrio High
School Charter led to the establishment of barrio high schools in the countryside. A
barrio (village) is a cluster of 20 or more families mostly living on mountain sides and
lakeshores and subsisting mainly on agriculture. About 1,000 barrio high schools were
established from 1962-1970. These schools shared resources with existing elementary
schools. Some classes were held late in the afternoon after the elementary school
pupils, thus maximizing resources and allowing the high school students to help their
parents in the farm and do household chores.
In the absence of the administrative personnel due to funding constraints the
barrio high schools were attached to the nearest “mother schools” usually national high
schools. The mother school principals administered and supervised the barrio school/s
with the elementary school heads as the assistant principal. Elementary school teachers
who have earned units towards specialization were allowed to teach in the barrio high
schools in the absence of qualified secondary school teachers in the area.
The original concept of the barrio high school later called barangay (cluster of
families) high school was to offer terminal secondary education-that students should be
ready for the world of work after graduation. But the culture of the Filipinos giving
much importance to college education prevailed such that even graduates of barangay
high schools wanted to go to college and take the National College Entrance
Examination (NCEE). Again due to budgetary constraints, the necessary equipment for
the vocational courses and recruitment of qualified teachers to teach both academic
and vocational subjects were provided to the barest minimum. The situation gave rise
to problems of teacher recruitment such that teachers were even allowed to teach
subjects that were neither their major nor minor. The more competent teachers
preferred to teach in the poblacion (municipality) where salaries were slightly higher
than those given to barangay high school teachers.
In July, 1988 an Appraisal of the Secondary Education Development Sector was
conducted by the Asian Development Bank. The report echoed the findings of the 1970
PCSPE report to wit:
The secondary education system in the Philippines needs improvement. A rapid
expansion of public high schools without adequate planning and funding has resulted in
a variety of secondary schools offering programs of varying quality. The system suffers
from inadequate management and evaluation capabilities as well. The private sector
which plays a significant role in the provision of secondary education also faces
considerable difficulties.
 The Appraisal Report became the basic document to improve the quality and
efficiency of the secondary education system and enhance its utility in terms of access
and equity.
The Premises for Development
The Secondary Education Development Program is built on four major premises:
1) that the Program for Decentralized Educational Development (PRODED) will bring
about higher quality and an increased student input into the secondary education
system, 2) that new demands will continue to be made on the system by the escalating
competitiveness of a growing technology at society, 3) that unless improved greatly,
the compatibility of the system does not warrant its being able to cope with the
demands placed on it and 4) that the present performance of secondary education
leaves much to be done towards the achievement of the goals set.
As the project efforts were geared towards the overall improvement of the sector
performance during and beyond the project cycle in terms of quality, access and
efficiency. After six years of nationwide implementation of the New Elementary School
Curriculum (NESC) a scheme to evaluate pupil performance all over the country using
the pretest-posttest design was conducted for Grade VI classes during the school year
1988-1989. An overall mean score of 47.34 across subject areas was obtained. This was
4.29 % higher than the overall mean obtained by the grade six classes in the old
curriculum.
The PRODED graduates in 1989 were the inputs to the New Secondary Education
Curriculum (NSEC) during the SY 1989-1990.
A. The Development Plan
The plan period for the NSEC covers ten years, 1983-1993. The first phase
from 1983 to 1988 is preparation for the entry of the graduates of the NSEC who are
expected to be in place in the high schools in 1989. The second phase from 1989-1993
will be the first implementation years of a new secondary education program with an
adequate support system to ensure quality instruction.
B. Capability Building
Within the first phase of development it is envisioned that every high
school with at least 200 enrolment will be developed to be able to provide the threshold
requirements for the proper implementation of the curriculum. For this, the planning
and management teams who were trained at the INNOTECH have made regional plans
and are expected to activate themselves for this capability building. Priorities have been
set by the teams. The leader school concept for development was initiated through
the selection of Regional Leader Schools (RLSs) and the training of their managers in
1984. By 1994, it is further envisioned that the RLSs shall have strengthened their
capability to undertake continuing staff development programs on their own. This is
part of the institutionalization of staff development at the local level. Teacher
trainors and SEDP fellows trained locally and abroad will form the corps of resource
support.
C. Curriculum Improvement
Central to the study was the existing curriculum and its implementation.
Admittedly, there are a great number of variables affecting the performance of
the school system. However, it is the educational content itself, the curriculum that
shapes these variables, particularly the institutional capability requirements for its
proper implementation. It defines the human resource qualifications, the instructional
support requirements, the facilities needed and the amount of financing requirements
for the successful achievement of goals.
The development program, therefore starts, with the updating of the
existing curriculum in relation to present and future needs, and the resolution of
problems met in its implementation. The determinants for these are the societal and the
learners’ needs that the educational program must meet. These were identified
through the studies that were conducted. The most significant needs identified were
for the greater focus on values and productivity development. In anticipation of better
quality graduates of the NESC the need for and more content-oriented programmed
was also identified.
D. Staff Development
1. A total of 44,446 private high school teachers and 126,564 from the public
high schools were mass trained over the last four years covering the period 1989-1992.
The data are based on teaching assignments of teachers especially in the newly
nationalized high schools where teachers had to undergo training twice or thrice.
To sustain the capability building, a continuing in-service training for
teachers (INSET) has been programmed for the next five years.
2. Series of trainings were also conducted for principals in the Advanced
Management Development Program (AMDP); for supervisors and SSHTs in the
Supervisory Skills Enhancement Program (SSEP) for teachers-in-charge and officers-in-
charge in national high schools.
3. Local and foreign fellowship for SEDP trainors, teachers and supervisors across
regions were likewise conducted. A group of 15 Secondary Education Division
chief, regional supervisors, assistant division superintendents in charge of
secondary education and a BSE staff underwent HRD training in Australia: a total
of 16 selected teachers and SSHTs across regions are undergoing a masteral
 degree program in the University of South Australia. Among their role
expectation is to coordinate the sustainability and institutionalization of SEDP.

Synopsis
Chapter 1 highlights the surveys and reforms conducted in the Philippines which
focused on basic education. The 1970 Presidential Commission to Survey Philippine
Education (PCSPE) came out with the document entitled Education for National
Development: New Patterns, New Directions. It could be recalled that Grade 7 was
abolished in 1940; the Commission recommended the restricting of the educational
ladder-6 years of elementary and 5 years of secondary.
Two other recommendations stood out: that a nationwide network of
comprehensive secondary schools be organized and that strong counselling and
guidance services be developed and established in all high school schools. The PCSPE
came up with a strong statement that “secondary education was widely believed to be
the weak link in the education ladder.”
National and international-funded basic education programs/projects are
discussed in this Chapter but more focused on secondary education as a follow-through
of the PCSPE recommendations.