Professional Documents
Culture Documents
28063-PH
PHILIPPINES
EDUCATION POLICY REFORMS IN ACTION:
A REVIEW OF PROGRESS SINCE PESS AND PCER
May 2004
Philippines Education Policy Reforms in Action
ii
Philippines Education Policy Reforms in Action
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This report was written by Elizabeth M. King, Lynnette de la Cruz Perez, Mario Taguiwalo,
with Yolanda Quintero, in consultation with representatives from key Philippine government
agencies, the academe, and research institutions: Juan Miguel Luz, Cristina Padolina,
Lourdes de Vera, Tess Felipe, Napoleon Imperial, Susan de la Rama, Jean Tayag, Susan
Carandang, Joel Flores, Yolanda Quijano, Rosario Manasan, Ester Albano Garcia, and Edita
Tan. We are grateful for their generous inputs. We also thank Peter Moock for his early
comments; and Cynthia Manalastas and Sabrina Terry for their administrative assistance.
Supervision from Emmanuel Jimenez, Robert Van Pulley, and Christopher Thomas is
gratefully acknowledged.
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Philippines Education Policy Reforms in Action
TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1. THE CONTEXT 1
2. OBJECTIVES 2
Higher Education 8
The Setting 8
PESS/PCER Recommendations 9
Actions 9
Rationalizing and Mobilizing funds 9
Rationalizing the Structure of Tertiary Education 10
Upgrading Quality of Teaching and Research 10
Assessment 11
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Philippines Education Policy Reforms in Action
References 20
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Philippines Education Policy Reforms in Action
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
For decades, the Philippines could boast of respect to these recommendations, those
being one of the most highly educated that
developing countries. Its enrollment rates at all
levels of education were higher than those of require fundamental changes in current
other countries with comparable, or even higher, structures and relations within the educational
income levels. But any edge that the Philippines system remain current.
might have had in its human capital has been
eroding as more countries in the region – Basic Education
Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam, as cases in
point – have achieved higher levels of education In the past decade, there have been a
and have invested in a more skilled labor force. number of important gains in improving
Moreover, quality of delivered instruction and basic education. Policy actions have
levels of educational outcomes attained by mitigated input shortages in textbooks and
students differ widely across different regions of school buildings, particularly in the poorest
the country, between rural versus urban areas, provinces. A new generation of instructional
and among different types of schools (public or policies, especially the more focused
private, central or peripheral, complete or basic curriculum, lays the foundation for
incomplete). better learning, provided that adequate
material and systems support sustain the
In recognition of these education problems, full implementation of these policies.
three major reviews have been conducted in the Renewed attention on private sector
past decade, each culminating in a long list of participation can complement the delivery of
recommended priority actions: the basic education, particularly at the secondary
Congressional Commission on Education level, in cases of lack of capacity. But progress
(EDCOM) of 1991, the Philippines Education is largely incomplete: real per-capita
Sector Study (PESS) of 1998, and the government spending on basic education
Presidential Commission on Educational Reform continues to lose ground to population growth
(PCER). As a result of EDCOM, three separate and inflation; the Department of Education has
government agencies with more focused barely started to address the difficult task of
mandates now govern education: basic education increasing the productivity of a large teaching
is managed by the Department of Education; force. Very few fundamental institutional
higher education is managed by the Commission changes have been introduced to improve
on Higher Education (CHED), and technical and systematically the management effectiveness of
vocational education (TVET) is governed by the the national agency and the entire organization.
Technical Education and Skills Development
Authority (TESDA). PESS and PCER Higher Education
recommended other actions: ensure adequate
financing and improve the quality of basic The uneven distribution of higher education
education; slow and reverse the haphazard institutions across the country and increased
expansion of low-quality tertiary institutions; reliance on fees in higher education have been
provide equitable access at all levels so that used as the rationale for the mushrooming of
deserving poor households and communities can low-quality state colleges and universities.
benefit from public education provision; and Given that the needs of basic education have
improve overall sector management through greater priority and that there is no guarantee
greater local participation and accountability. that increased public funding will yield better
While some progress has been made with quality or more equitable access to higher
education, recommendations have focused on
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Philippines Education Policy Reforms in Action
the need for a more efficient, equitable and overall improvement of quality, efficiency and
strategic use of limited public funding for higher equity of all programs across the board, rather
education, with the expectation that private than only on its own—but the full
institutions can then carry the main burden of transformation of TESDA from provision to
meeting student demands, coupled with a more monitoring, evaluation, regulation, and
targeted program of college and university financing TVET is not yet complete, with
scholarships. A moratorium on the budget constraints being a significant problem.
establishment of state colleges and universities
and a rationalization of the creation and Major Challenges Remain
conversion of new state colleges and universities
have been recommended—and indeed, CHED Given evidence of constancy of purpose through
has slowed down the rapid growth of low quality political changes (e.g., textbooks in basic
state institutions. The share of tertiary education education), capacity to implement tough
in total government spending for education also decisions despite political resistance (e.g., some
has been contained, and the best institutions rationalization of SUCs), and willingness to
have been deregulated with many moving ahead change for greater effectiveness (e.g., TESDA’s
with their own quality improvement efforts. shift to quality assurance in TVET), why has
there not been more progress in other vital
Some major gaps remain, however. The areas? There was clearly no substantive
creation of new SUCS still threatens to speed up progress in creating mechanisms for sector-wide
due to political interests in the nation’s accountability, leadership, and planning; in
legislature. There has been no change in the improving teacher productivity and utilization;
targeting of scholarships. Little progress has in greater efficiency in schools; in increasing the
been made on teacher development considering quality of SUCs; or in focusing public spending
the system’s high demand for better teacher on scholarships.
competencies. Even the best SUCs are unable to
generate significant levels of self-financing. Strategic implementation. The recommendations
do not provide adequate guidance to policy
Technical-Vocational Education and makers nor do they help policy makers prioritize
Training the actions. They may not have been specific
enough or prioritized enough. They may not
The country has a wide variety of technical- have provided clear implementation scenarios or
vocational education and training (TVET) identified the trade-offs required to implement
options, mostly in the private sector, but wide the reforms. Sequencing and timing are going to
variations in quality exist among these programs be affected by a number of factors, including
and offerings while the patterns of demand for availability of required resources, existence of
skills constantly change. In many respects, the supporting organizational structures, and degree
problems and constraints reflect the failures in of political risks involved, that determine which
basic education outcomes or the limitations in recommendations are going to be deemed as
admissions to higher education. The feasible and which are the least costly. Strategic
recommendation with respect to this sub-sector implementation recognizes the linkages between
has been to rely primarily on private providers the reforms and uses breakthroughs in one area
so that programs can respond more quickly to to create breakthroughs in other areas, but the
the market, and to use public financing mainly implementation of many reforms has failed to
to induce private providers to deliver high- take advantage of these types of synergies.
quality programs. PESS recommended an
education service contracting scheme for Broad support for specific recommendations.
providers and a development fund to assist Reforms are more feasible and sustainable if
private providers toll up for offering TVET there is political consensus on, and broad
courses. TESDA has focused correctly on the support for, the recommended changes—among
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Philippines Education Policy Reforms in Action
the key implementers of the reform, among the decision making and implementation authority
wider education community, as well as within closer to schools which are likely to benefit most
the national population. Some recommendations
were contested by national education can intensify and sustain push for change, but
stakeholders even at the time of the the nation has continued to reject including
deliberations. education in its decentralization reform. And
though a national education information network
can improve greatly the management of the
An institutional environment for change. Basic education system, information collection
institutional reforms that are necessary for the throughout the system remains naïve and
specific recommended reforms to be sporadic (especially in comparison with other
implemented are missing. For example, the countries), and information, when available, is
education sector needs a champion for reform used ineffectively.
whose accountability is the performance of the
whole education sector and whose institutional Political will for change. The key feature
interest is the efficient, coordinated functioning characterizing the above environment for change
of the whole system. The current lack of an is a prevailing illusion that education reforms in
integrated leadership in the education sector the Philippines seem discretionary, a “nice to
cripples the ability of the policymakers to act have” initiative that can be pursued voluntarily
strategically across the sub-sectors. Also, the when conditions and timing are right. There
system does not yet have accountability does not seem to be a widely shared sense that
mechanisms to address the loose connections education reforms are a vital necessity, a matter
between the implementers for change and the of survival for the education system, an
beneficiaries of that change. Transferring some imperative imposed upon the nation due to
decades of inaction or inadequate effort.
viii
1. THE CONTEXT But any edge that the Philippines might have
had in its human capital has been eroding as
more countries in the region – Thailand,
For decades, the Philippines could boast of
being one of the most highly educated Table 1. Student performance on
developing countries. Its enrollment rates at mathematics and science tests: Ranking
all levels of education were higher than those among 38 countries
of other countries with comparable income Country Mathematics Science
levels (Figure 1). As a result, the export of score & rank score & rank
Singapore 604 (1) 568 (2)
professionals, technicians, and other skilled Korea 587 (2) 549 (5)
workers has been a lifeblood for the economy. Taiwan 585 (3) 569 (1)
A recent magazine article portrayed this Hong Kong 582 (4) 530 (15)
Japan 579 (5) 550 (4)
colorfully: Malaysia 519 (16) 492 (22)
Thailand 467 (27) 482 (24)
At any given time, about 10 percent of the Indonesia 403 (34) 435 (32)
Philippines 348 (36) 345 (36)
country's 76.5 million population is hard at work -
Source: Trends in International Mathematics and Science
outside the country. During 2001, more than Study 1999
800,000 people headed out on a commute that Malaysia, and Vietnam, as cases in point –
makes Rye-Grand Central seem like a milk run to have achieved higher levels of education and
the corner store. They went to Italy, Saudi Arabia,
have invested in a more skilled labor force.
Canada, Singapore, and Uzbekistan. They went to
Mongolia and Equatorial Guinea. Unlike China, with its ample supply of cheap labor,
Mexicans, who flock primarily to the United States, poses a formidable threat to these smaller
Filipinos traveled to 162 nations in all …as economies with respect to labor-intensive
domestic helpers, engineers, nurses, bricklayers, export industries. To face up to this threat, the
teachers, farmers, seafarers, stenographers, smaller economies in the region (as well as
hairdressers, crane operators, cooks, and those in other world regions) must build up
entertainers. … Remittances, the money they their comparative advantage in terms of a
electronically send back to their families, account more highly skilled labor force. Indeed,
for 8.2 percent of the nation's gross national students in Asian countries have performed
product, stabilizing its peso, improving foreign
extremely well in international standardized
currency reserves, shoring up consumption, and
making more than a dent in the unemployment rate
examinations on mathematics and science
(now 11.1 percent). Last year, overseas Filipino (Table 1). But in the 1999 TIMSS tests of
workers sent home $6.2 billion. Indians sent home eighth-graders in 38 countries, the Philippines
twice the amount - with 13 times the general ranked far behind its neighbors.
population (Wired, 2002).
Figure 1. Gross and net enrollment rates in East Asian countries, 2000
120
100
100
80
80
60
60
40
40
20 20
0 0
Indonesia Philippines Thailand Malaysia Korea Indonesia Philippines Thailand Malaysia Korea
($710) ($1020) ($1980) ($3540) ($9930) ($710) ($1020) ($1980) ($3540) ($9930)
Primary Gross enrollment Primary Net enrollment Secondary Gross enrollment Secondary Net enrollment
Notes: GNP per capita data (in parenthesis) are for 2002. Data on Thailand’s net enrollment rate at the secondary
level is not available.
Data sources: UNESCO, 2003; World Bank 2003.
These results are consistent with other data on the primary level and more children transition
the quality of basic education. The results of to secondary level. Improving the quality of
national exams themselves indicate that basic education graduates is a key input to
students are not learning the curriculum—only better tertiary education. There are many other
slightly more than one-half of students pass issues related to improving tertiary education
these tests (52 percent in elementary education but the most critical ones revolve around the
and 53 percent in secondary education) effectiveness of tertiary education in preparing
(Department of Education, SY2000/01) teachers for basic education, and around the
(Figure 2). In addition, while enrollment rates competing claims on public funding for
appear high, completion is only at 66 percent tertiary education that, to some extent, reduce
at the elementary level and 48 percent at the the level of public resources for basic
secondary level. education.
3. THE RECORD ON POLICY PRIORITIES AND The main outlines of the basic education
ACTIONS situation are well known. The Philippines has
succeeded in achieving close to universal
Since the PESS and PCER, the Arroyo participation in Grade 1, exerting tremendous
Administration had succeeded the Estrada effort just to accommodate a growing number
Administration; three successive secretaries of of cohorts of new school entrants each year.
education have headed the Department of Drop-out and repetition rates in the 6-year
Education, and four different secretaries of elementary cycle, however, are significant and
economic planning and two secretaries of have persisted for more than four decades
budget have provided policy direction to the since the 1960s. Rates of completion at Grade
broad financing and management of the whole 6 are low and achievement levels of those
education sector. Apart from changes in the completing elementary schooling are
political leadership affecting the education considered unsatisfactory (Figure 3).
sector, there have also been significant
changes in the overall economic situation of There has been rapid expansion in high school
the country and in the corresponding fiscal enrollment since the 1990s when universal
constraints of the government. Since free secondary education was implemented.
education occupies such a large share of total But since transition rates from elementary to
government spending, the changing fiscal high school, though slightly higher, are still
fortunes of government greatly influence the low and drop-out rates are significant, the rate
of high school completion for children who The PESS recommended the following urgent
entered grade 1 is less than 50 percent (Figure and priority initiatives in the immediate to
3). Achievement rates of graduates of the full short term: address the textbook shortage in
ten-year (elementary and high school) basic basic education by reducing inefficiencies in
education cycle are also deemed the acquisition, provision and use of this basic
unsatisfactory. There has also been an even input; target new investments in elementary
more recent trend towards increased public education to benefit disadvantaged areas and
120
Primary GER
100
Secondary GER Sec Completion rate
80
20
0
1997/8 1998/9 1999/0 2000/1 2001/2
Notes: GER=Gross enrollment rate; Secondary Completion Rate=Completion rate at Grade 10, conditional on
having started high school.
Source: Department of Education
There was clearly no substantive progress in What get in the way of effective
creating mechanisms for sector-wide implementation are factors that may not be
accountability, leadership, and planning. Very directly related to the validity of the
little progress could be observed in improving recommendations themselves, but to the
teacher productivity and utilization, or in sequencing and timing of implementation.
institutional changes for greater efficiency in Judgments about sequencing and timing are
the basic education delivery organization. going to be affected by a number of factors,
While further claims by tertiary education on including availability of required resources,
the public budget have been contained, little existence of supporting organizational
has been accomplished in terms of obtaining structures, and degree of political risks
increased policy-consistent outcomes from involved, that determine which
existing public spending on tertiary education recommendations are going to be deemed as
either on SUCS or on scholarships. It is also feasible and which are the least costly. There
are clear benefits from starting with reforms additional obstacle was the need for a
that are easiest to implement—those for which corresponding legislative action to amend the
institutional support and resources already Higher Education Modernization Act of 1997,
exist and which involve little political risk— which provides for the composition and
not necessarily with those that are of foremost powers of the governing boards.
importance. The benefits from starting easy in
an education system that has not had a strong Second, while the preparation of the policy
record of success cannot be overstated. Quick papers involved representatives of key
successes are confidence-building both for the national stakeholders, the policy efforts of
implementers and the beneficiaries, and can PESS and PCER did not attempt to build a
pave the way for more risk-taking. broad political constituency around the
conclusions of the reports. The absence of
Among the reforms that are easiest to political support from an organized and
implement, there are potential gains from sustained network of interests for the
acting on those that are likely to yield education reforms made the recommendations
multiplier effects, that is, those that facilitate vulnerable to the subsequent changes in the
or reduce the cost of implementing other political leadership within the three key
reforms as well as increase the gains from education agencies. Changes in political
achieving those related reforms. For example, administration eroded the commitment to
successful textbook reform—rationalizing the specific recommendations and led to changes
choice of textbooks and getting textbooks in in policy or priority, implementation focus,
the hands of students—complements reforms and funding allocations, thereby interrupting
related to the curriculum or teacher the continuity of policies and programs. For
development. In fact, strategic example, some of the recommendations
implementation recognizes the linkages required legal changes, such as an amendment
between the reforms and uses breakthroughs in of the Higher Education Modernization Act of
one area to create breakthroughs in other 1997 that determines the composition and
areas. A critical shortcoming of the powers of the governing boards of SUCs. The
implementation of many reforms is the failure absence of broad political consensus reduced
to take advantage of these types of synergies. the probability of passing such legislation,
especially with respect to the more contested
Broad Support for Specific Recommendations recommendations (e.g., enforcing the
moratorium on the creation and conversion of
Reforms are more feasible and sustainable if new SUCs, introduction of incentives for
there is political consensus on and broad teachers based on performance).
support for, the recommended changes—
among the key implementers of the reforms, An Institutional Environment for Change
the wider education community, as well as
within the national population. This was not In addition to factors that are specific to
the case with the education policy individual recommendations, the absence of an
recommendations. First, some enabling environment for change in the
recommendations were contested by national education system deserves blame. The policy
education stakeholders even at the time of the papers did recognize the need for institutional
deliberations. For example, at the time of the changes in the system, such as the
PESS discussions, informants reported that enhancement of local school boards of primary
CHED did not agree with the recommendation schools, improvement of teacher management,
for its commissioners to give up their position and a strengthening of the accreditation system
as chairs of the governing boards of SUCs. for private institutions, but there are even more
The commissioners argued that those positions basic institutional reforms that are necessary
are about the only mechanism for the agency for the specific recommended reforms to be
to influence and supervise SUCs. An implemented.
The education sector needs a champion for economies of scale, such as in the case of
reform whose accountability is the teacher deployment, policies towards SUCs,
performance of the whole education sector and and the design of assessment systems. The
whose institutional interest is the efficient, question then is, Can the government establish
coordinated functioning of the whole system. and enforce accountability mechanisms for
The current lack of an integrated leadership in when there are likely to be loose connections
the education sector cripples the ability of the between the implementers for change and the
policymakers to act strategically across the beneficiaries of that change? Some answers
sub-sectors. The recommended National emerge from the experience of other countries.
Coordinating Council for Education would First, required are clear, widely known
provide needed coordination of actions and performance standards and measures, an
monitoring of the progress of implementation information system that provides timely,
in the different education sub-sectors, but the periodic and accurate comparative data on
leadership role that the whole sector needs performance, and an information-based system
goes beyond one of coordination. management. It makes sense for the
government to maintain a national education
When there are loose connections between information network that supports planning
the points of actions for education reform and and budgeting tasks at all levels of
the chief beneficiaries of those reforms, there government, to ensure performance
are, at best, weak consequences for the quality measurement and reporting, and to monitor
of performance and thus weak incentives to innovations and provide the informational
assume the costs of reform. Transferring some basis for replication across local governments.
decision making and implementation authority The current management of the education
closer to those who are likely to benefit most system, though equipped with a management
ensures that a more sustained push for reforms information system, does not use information
exists. Moreover, local accountability efficiently throughout the system. There is
mechanisms (such as the community’s ability need also to audit existing skills of personnel
to change the composition of the local school regularly and to map missing skills. While
board, to affect the level of resources available districts should be responsible for upgrading
to the school, or to unseat a local education local skills to the necessary level, the national
manager for poor performance) ensure that government should be responsible for the
there would be real consequences to maintenance of performance standards that are
improvements in performance and thus create the basis for the skills audit.
the incentives for local leaders to experiment
with better ways of doing things. Indeed, Second, a strong incentive for reform must
there are difficult and sufficiently different exist in the education communities. A binding
local conditions in the Philippines to make or operative legal and regulatory framework
experimentation rewarding and even could compel agencies at different levels of
necessary, and to the extent that a region can government to act. For example, despite the
learn from the experience of others, locally obvious need to improve the allocation of
generated innovations can underpin continuing public resources for education, there is no
improvements in education. The Philippine legal support for modifying how teachers are
education sector, which continues to be deployed throughout the country. The Magna
centralized relative to other sectors, can Carta, the law that regulates the teaching
benefit from more devolved decision making. profession, continues to prevent the
government from transferring teachers to areas
Yet decentralization cannot establish all where they are more needed. Reforms cannot
the necessary incentives for reform. all be mandated by legal action; however, this
Sometimes it makes sense to retain decision approach is too costly in terms of initiating
making authority at a more aggregate level of and enforcing reform. On the other hand,
governance and management because of competition for prestige and resources that is
based on agreed-upon performance standards succeed in education reform while they are
can be a powerful and less costly incentive severely punished by unfavorable opinion
mechanism. when such reforms fail. Such an opinion
climate makes for severely risk-averse
The country’s education system has education policymaking. There are also some
responded in some cases to emerging gaps and observers that point out that most of the
growing needs within the context of limited children of influential policymakers in politics,
resources through innovations in terms of media and academe now attend private
delivery modes, systems improvement, and schools. This suggests that the parents who
alternative approaches. A number of new make decisions affecting the large public
solutions or novel policy or program school system do so without benefit from
interventions have been designed and lessons from their children’s schooling
implemented through experimentation and experience, or worse on the basis of their own
demonstration, some of which registered outdated impressions of public schools twenty
successes in terms of targeted education to forty years ago. The urgency for change
outcomes, but in a limited setting. In many may also be temper by the fact that past
cases, however, education policymakers and achievements in education seem to be enough
key implementers continued to pursue to continue yielding sufficient human
reforms, without regard to the successes resources for overseas and domestic
achieved through these earlier innovations. A employment. These explanations may place
number of new interventions to address the lack of more vigorous education reform in
cyclical problems of resource inequity or context, although none of these will save or
quality issues were designed without building exempt the country from the worst
on the worthy innovations on the ground. consequences and missed opportunities of not
Case studies documenting innovations addressing large-scale and long-standing
developed in other countries which are education disadvantages and inefficiencies.
applicable in the local setting need to be taken
into account as interventions are designed. A vigorous and sustained political impetus for
The complexity of the reform process in the change in the education sector needs to follow
education sector necessitates building on these through with the structural reforms of
successful and feasible innovations and EDCOM, the technical recommendations of
ensuring their replication particularly in areas PESS and PCER, and the potential promise of
at-risk or most in need. the gains in the past five years. For example,
the Restructured Basic Education Curriculum
Political Will for Change is mainly an intended curriculum at this time,
and its most important objectives will be
The key feature characterizing the above attained only if the necessary material,
environment for change is a prevailing illusion organizational and technical support to its
that education reforms in the Philippines seem delivery were provided. When the previous
discretionary, a “nice to have” initiative that elementary education curriculum (the Revised
can be pursued voluntarily when conditions New Elementary School Curriculum) was
and timing are right. There does not seem to mandated in the 1980’s, it was accompanied
be a widely shared sense that education with a major infusion of resources (including a
reforms are a vital necessity, a matter of major World Bank project, PRODED) to
survival for the education system, an provide support for teacher training, procure
imperative imposed upon the nation due to new textbooks, improve instructional
decades of inaction or inadequate effort. supervision, and introduce student assessment
tools and capacities. A similar concerted effort
There are some opinion survey data that might be necessary to ensure that the BEC
indicate that national political leaders are less delivers on its intended improvements.
rewarded by favorable opinion when they
Such a concerted effort will need political Such a catalyzing process can consist of a
leadership at the highest levels as well as rigorously monitored program of innovations
supportive technical and managerial leadership and experiments for identifying small
at professional levels. A leadership network successes which is then coupled with an
of this scale is not likely to emerge fully organized strategic effort aimed at building on
grown from anywhere in the present system. these small successes as key levers for change.
While many elements and capacities for a This process can generate benefits that attract
leadership network for education reform constituencies and champions, as well as
exists, a process for catalyzing involvement, valuable learning, that will be critical to
collaboration and sustained action will need to success in ever larger arena of reform. This
reach out to the isolated pockets of excellence process can enable a leadership network to
and efficiency and connect them to a summon the political will to emerge, grow and
politically viable movement for change. lead the change in the education sector.
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