Student Council Alliance of the Philippines www.scapnational.wordpress.com scap.neb@gmail.

com

Philippine society remains a feudalistic order, marked by sharp concentrations of wealth, power, and privilege at the top, and insecurity, poverty, powerlessness and dependence at the base.

We are ranked as one of the most corrupt countries in the world.

Our politics is dominated by big businessmen, clans, and traditional political families.

Education to the RESCUE!

Young people are the hope of the motherland.

Schools have failed time and again to become more than instructional sites or reproduction centers of labor force.

Thesis:

The education system, the way we run them presently, becomes part of the problem, instead of a solution. There is a need to reform the education system.

Government Expenditures 1987-2006 (in billion pesos)

800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 0 Debt Service (Interest plus Principal) Education Health Social Security

The State, through its funding policies, has continuously relegated the importance of providing free and quality education.

Aquino

Ramos

Estrada

Arroyo

Source: Freedom from Debt Coalition

EDUCATION AND STUDENTS WELFARE: AGAINST ALL ODDS SUC Budget 21 B pesos PDAF 24 B pesos Debt service (principal) 466 B pesos Debt service (+interest) 750 B pesos

3 B pesos higher 442 B pesos higher 729 B pesos higher

EDUCATION AND STUDENTS WELFARE: AGAINST ALL ODDS SUC Budget 21 B pesos BU Budget 383 M pesos Bicol University budget < pork barrels of 4 senators

Brent High School Tuition Fee: P/ 341,000.00

Miscellaneous Fees: P/ 245,300.00

Student to Teacher Ratio: 9:1
-Brent Manila website

Philippine Private School

In Udalo Elementary School at Lanao del Sur, there is only one (1) classroom available for 647 students. -2010 data, GMANews.tv

Philippine Public School

Education is designed as a competition to get ahead of others.

The Capitalist Formula for Education

= enormous wealth + a big company

The Capitalist Formula for Education

Mr. Corporate and Industry-Driven Individual The Capitalist Formula for Education

 Reinforcement of Gender Roles Standardized Undemocratic and Abusive

 Reinforcement of Apathy and Neutrality Proliferation of Charity Individualism

If at situations of injustice you remain neutral, if an elephants foot is on a mouses tail and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.

-Desmond Tutu

SCHOOLS SHOULD BE: >> political and cultural centers (provides an environment for independent thought) >> breeding ground for critical thinking (necessary in becoming an active citizen for personal development and nationbuilding)

SCHOOLS BECOME: >> diploma mills / profit oriented (vocational and technical schools banking on Nursing, HRM, or IT courses) >> undemocratic and abusive (discrimination against unmarried pregnant women and homosexuals)

Because of the lack of democratic spaces:

STUDENT COUNCILS BECOME:
>> breeding ground not for genuine student leaders (pro-students rights and welfare) but opportunists (positionoriented and award-seeking; TRAPO) >> event organizers limited to mundane projects (clean and green, concerts, feeding programs) in expense of real functions (tuition-monitoring, agendabuilding)

SCHOOL PAPERS BECOME:

>> biased and censored ; away from genuine journalism (vanguards of TRUTH)

>> accountable to envelopmental media in the future

We cannot solve the problems of today by the same minds that created them. -Albert Einstein

The STRAW Bill is a document which guarantees the political and civil liberties of the Filipino student.

HB 2190 has gone through in-depth consultations nationwide among different student councils/ governments and youth organizations.
The bill is a product of thorough discourse among student and youth leaders.

SCAP leaders during the filing of the STRAW Bill with Rep. Hontiveros, Sept. 17, 2007

What are our guaranteed rights as Filipino students?

Consistent with the 1987 constitution, the STRAW Bill ensures the basic and fundamental rights of students as Filipino citizens. >> to admission, non-discrimination, and quality education >> to organize and establish their own student council/government and/or organizations >> to participate in policy-making processes >> to free expression and information >> to exercise their academic freedom >> to due process in disciplinary proceedings >> to privacy (against unreasonable searches and seizures) >> to be secured within school premises

Simple rights. Fundamental rights.

If, at a young age, citizens do not understand the value of democracy and representation, the Philippines will have all the formal democratic structures without the culture necessary to animate it.

Why do we need to guarantee these rights? No policy currently exists that can sufficiently and satisfactorily guard our students from possible exploitations.
tuition increase | campus militarization | media censorship | forced disappearances | lack of representation | gender discrimination

Why do we need to guarantee these rights?

Education should encourage free and critical thinking which could help in molding and crafting new ideas and means that could later contribute to genuine national development. Gio Tingson National Chairperson Student Council Alliance of the Philippines

tuition increase | campus militarization | media censorship | forced disappearances | lack of representation | gender discrimination

Is the bill set against university administrators?

NO.

The bill actually recognizes the role of all stakeholders in the whole educational system.

Is the bill set against university administrators? NO.

The bill provides mechanisms for checks and balances in all university processes.

Can the bill be circumvented and utilized against students?

NO. This bill likewise empowers the Commission on Higher

Education (CHED) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) to become more than monitoring institutions.

Can the bill be circumvented and utilized against students? NO.

The bill empowers CHED and TESDA to render judgment and execute necessary administrative punishments or make essential recommendations in the Department of Justice or Office of the President for prosecution of any offending party which/who has violated any provision in the bill.

Why do we need to support the bill?

Because this is a concrete step to address the perennial problems in the education system.

Why do we need to support the bill?

This is OUR proposal. This is OUR bill.