Lesson 1.

Nonstate Institutions and

Organizations
1 2. Education
3. Social and Political Stratification

1. Nonstate Institutions and Organizations

Bank is a place where people deposit or save their money with corresponding
interest on a given period of time. It lends money both to the public and private
organizations. The government borrows money from the bank to finance its projects while
private organizations and individuals borrow money to finance their business and other
personal needs. Example includes Banco de Oro, Bank of the Philippine Islands,
Metrobank, rural banks, etc.

Corporation is a company or group of people authorized to act as a single entity

and recognized as such in law. Usually, corporations operate as stock corporations
where ownership is through stockholders who own particular shares in the company.
Examples are San Miguel Corporation and Jollibee Foods Corporation.

Cooperative or coop refers to an autonomous association whose membership is

voluntary toward the attainment of common economic, social and cultural needs or
aspirations. A cooperative is owned by its members. Examples are credit cooperative,
consumer cooperative, electric cooperative, housing cooperative, worker’s cooperative,
agricultural cooperative, general cooperative.

A trade union or labor union is an organization of workers whose main objective

is to protect the welfare of its members. Its purpose is to collectively negotiate employers
for better compensation benefits, safety standards in the workplace, just to name a few.
In the Philippines, these national federations are Trade Union Congress of the Philippines
(TUCP) and the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU).

Transnational Advocacy Groups are involved in social advocacy to promote

principled causes, ideas and values. Their goal is to give the powerless a voice in the
domestic and international lawmaking body. Common social advocacies include human
rights, consumer rights, women’s rights, environmental issues, and international peace.
In the Philippines, Human Rights Watch is very active in human rights and peace issues.
Development Agencies are committed/dedicated to distributing aid. These
agencies are present in developing countries challenged by security conflict, food
shortage, climate change, financial instability and others. Some of the prominent
development agencies in the Philippines are the following:
• United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
• Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID)
 • Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)

Aid can be subdivided into two categories: humanitarian aid (emergency relief
efforts in response to disasters and development aid (foreign aid) aimed at helping
countries to achieve sustainable economic growth.

Global Organizations operate in the development of entire countries. They are

the funders and donors. They operate by giving loans or grants to other countries to be
used for development. In the onslaught of covid-19, the Philippines was granted a loan
by the World Bank to be used for financial assistance to many of the Filipinos who are
affected by the pandemic. Below are the most well-known organizations in the world.
• World Bank (WB)
• International Monetary Bank (IMB)
• Asian Development Bank (ADB)

International Organizations are organizations with international membership,

scope or presence. The two (2) main types are the following:
• International Non-governmental Organizations (INGO) – non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) that operate internationally, example, International
Committee of the Red Cross.
• International Governmental Organizations (IGOs) – these are organizations that
are made up primarily of member states, example, the United Nations (UN).

2. Education
Education is the social institution that formally socializes members of the society. It also
refers to the process through which skills, knowledge, and values are transmitted from
the teachers to the learners.

Formal education usually takes placed in a classroom setting and provided by

trained teaching and nonteaching staff.

Elementary education is the first part of the educational system, and it includes
the first six years of compulsory education from grade1 to grade 6.

Secondary education is continuing basic education from the elementary level to

four years of junior high school and two years of senior high school.

Tertiary education is offered by private and public colleges and universities. Most
higher education institutions offer 4-year degree programs with 2 semesters per year.

Vocational education. Accredited institutions offer technical and vocational

education. Programs offered vary in duration from a few weeks to two years.
 Special education (SPED) refers to the education of persons who are physically,
mentally, emotionally, socially or culturally different from so-called “normal” individuals,
such that they require modification of school practices to develop their potential.

Nonformal education is an organized educational activity that takes placed

outside a formal set up. It has no age-limit, even adults can take part in a nonformal
education program. One example for this is the Alternative Learning System (ALS) of the
Department of Education.

Informal education is a lifelong process of learning by which every person

acquires and accumulates knowledge, skills, attitude from daily experiences at home, at
work, at play, and from life itself.

Functions of Education in the Society

• Give training in specific skills; or the basic general education literacy

• Prepare individuals for job
• Preserving culture from generation to generation
• Encouraging democratic participation through verbal skills
• Develop the person’s ability to think logically
• Enriching life by enabling the students to expand his/her intellectual and
aesthetic horizons
• Improving personal adjustment through personal counselling
• Improving the health of the nation’s youth
• Producing nationalistic citizens
• Build personal character

The two most important goals of education for the individual and society are
productive citizenry and self-actualization. Productive citizenry refers to an idea that a
citizen can create opportunities to become productive.

Self-actualization refers to a desire for self-fulfilment. If an individual’s self-

fulfilment is through achieving his dreams and aspirations in life, once these are achieved,
he reaches the level of self-actualization.

Primary Education as a Human Right

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has the right to
education. Education has to be free and compulsory at least in the primary level, higher
education and technical-vocational education should be made generally available.

In the statement of United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural

Organization (UNESCO), education is a fundamental human right and essential for the
exercise of all other human rights. It promotes individual freedom and empowerment and
yields important development benefits.
 Education is a powerful tool by which economically and socially marginalized
adults and children can lift themselves out of poverty and participate fully as citizens.
Hence in the Philippines, primary education is considered a right of a child. It is
enshrined in the 1987 Philippine Constitution.

3. Social and Political Stratification

Differentiation is the method of relating people in terms of certain social
characteristics and then classifying them into social categories based on their
characteristics; it does not involve ranking. For example, we may differentiate people
according to sex, age, occupation, education, etc. We then place them in a particular
social category.

The layering of these categories into higher and lower position of prestige or
respect is called social stratification.

Social stratification is a society’s categorization of people into socioeconomic

strata/layer, based on their occupation and income, wealth and social status, or derived
power (social and political).

Three Social Classes

1. The upper class – consists of the elite or wealthy families who are the most prolific
(productive) in their respective areas. They value heritage most over wealth.
2. The middle class – these are mostly professional people like lawyers, doctors,
manager, owners of small businesses, executives, etc. They value education most
since education to them is the most important measure of social status.
3. The lower class – these are the office and clerical workers, skilled and unskilled
craftsman, farm employees, underemployed, indigent families, etc. They depend
on their paycheck.

Status is the individual’s position in the social structure. The higher or lower
positions that come about through social stratification are called statuses. For example,
some people are high government officials while others are salesmen, utility workers, etc.
Statuses do not relate to the individual themselves but rather to the position into which
they have been placed.

Social Desirables
Any rational individual will always aspire for things that give wealth, power, and
prestige. The ability of an individual to realize such aspiration is constrained by situations
where one is born into.

Ascribed statuses are assigned or given by the society or group on the basis of
some fixed category. Examples are sex, family background, ethnicity, etc.
 Achieved statuses are earned by the individual. Examples are honours received
in school, good job, award for winning a competition, etc.

Prestige and Esteem

Prestige refers to the evaluation of status. You have prestige according to your
status. For example, being a senior student, you have the prestige of a senior student at
your school. The prestige does not apply directly to you as a person, but rather to the
social category to which you belong (senior class).

Esteem refers to the assessment of our role behaviour. The measure of esteem
we have depends on how well we carry out our role. If you perform well, get an
outstanding rating, you get and have a high esteem.

Political Stratification

Political stratification is the extent to which inequalities are encapsulated in, or

influenced by political structures and processes regarding influence, power and authority.

Social Mobility System/Structure

Social mobility is the act of moving from one social status to another.

Open class system means that individuals can change their social class in the
society. People are free to gain a different level of education or employment than their
parents. They can also socialize with members of other classes, which allow people to
move from one class to another.

Caste and closed-class system, people can do little or nothing to change their
social standing. People are born into their social standing and will remain in it. People are
assigned occupations regardless of their talents, interests, or potential.

Types of Social Mobility

Horizontal mobility is the movement of a person within a social class level. For
example, a factory worker who finds a new job as a construction worker.

Vertical mobility is the movement of a person between social class levels or

another class. For example, a factory worker who enrols in college and becomes a
businessman.