CHALLENGES IN THE PHILIPPINE BASIC EDUCATION SYSTEM
JOVITO R. JOBO, JR. Graduate School Student – Master in Public Affairs Affairs University of the Philippines Los Banos
March 26, 2009
INTRODUCTION: Leadership in any organization is crucial and often determine the success or fail failure ure of of the the organ organiz izat atio ion. n.
The The law of the the lid lid state states s that that the the lea leader’ der’s s
perspective and direction leads the whole organization to its destination. In any organization organization,, the management management and/or and/or leadership leadership depends on the organi organizat zatio iona nall struc structu ture re..
Large Largerr orga organi nizat zatio ions ns have have a more more comp comple lex x
organizationa organizationall set-up set-up compared compared to that that of of a smaller smaller organizat organization. ion.
Hence, it is
easier to manage or to lead a smaller organization compared to a larger one. Public and Private educational organizational set-up also differ as it is said that public education tend to be bureaucratic and transactional in nature. especially especially in case case of local local community community settin setting, g,
Often,
decision decision making making is being being made
with the approval of the head of the local government especially in terms of budget consideration, and staff appointments. Private on the otherhand is often linear in nature and has the advantages in decision making since often, the decision making process is made by the owners themselves. The present public education system is besiege with a lot of problems which this this paper will discuss. These problems calls for good will will of our leaders in solving these problematic situation. As such, the presentation presentation of this this paper calls for leaders leaders who can “Rock the
Boat”,
who
are visi vision onar arie ies, s,
risk risk
take takers rs,,
good good
coll collab abor orat ator ors s
and and
communicators, mentors, and people with uncommon passion and persistence. The severity severity of the problem problem calls for leaders leaders who
have have person personal al integrity integrity,,
assertive and ambitious ambitious for their their organizations. Leaders who are optimists even in bad times. Leaders who can bring energy, energy, are opportunistic and flexible, and are not easily deterred.
THE PHILIPPINE BASIC EDUCATION SYTEM: In the Philippines, basic education is one of the shortest in the world. This is compose composed d of ten years years where: where: six years years of elemen elementary tary and four four years years of of secondary education. A pupil enters elementary education at 6 or 7 years of age and by age 11, he/she he/she complete completes s elemen elementary tary educat education ion.. At age 12 or 13, a Filipino Filipino child is at the secondary secondary level. After After completing completing basic education education at the age of 15 or 16, a Filipino youth then proceeds to institutions of higher learning either either to
obtain obtain a colleg college e degree, degree, earn a certifi certificat cate e from a post-sec post-seconda ondary ry
vocatio vocational nal/te /techn chnica icall instit instituti ution, on, enter enter the
work force, force, or be included included in the
growing number of the unemployed and underemployed .
DepEd BASIC FACT SHEET: School Schools s can be classi classifie fied d as either either governm government ent support supported ed or privat private e find finded ed.. The The DepE DepEd d Fact Fact Sheet Sheet for for Acad Academ emic ic Year 2002 2002 to 2007 2007 gives gives the the following education data: Teacher : Pupil (Elementary Students) Average Ratio Ratio is 1:36 while Teacher Teacher : Student (High School Students) Average Ratio is 1:41. Includ Included ed in the the DepEd DepEd fact fact sheet sheet is
the Rati Ratio o of
Public Public Elem Element entary ary
Schools compared Private Elementary Schools which is 42,000 : 37,000 while Public High Schools compared to Private Pri vate High Schools is 8,000 : 5,000. Enrollment Enrollment Data indicates indicates that the ratio of Public Public to Private Elementary Elementary Enrolle Enrollees es avera averaged ged
12Mill 12Million ion (92%): (92%): 1Milli 1Million on (8%) (8%)
while while Enrollm Enrollment ent Data Data
comparison for Public versus Private High Schools averaged 5.05Million (80%) : 1.29Million (20%).
To analyze, the above abo ve data shows: 1. That That there there is a huge huge reductio reduction n of the number number of student students s that came came from Elementary to High Schools with Completion Rate which averages 70% and drop-out rate average of 7%. 2. That That the huge huge number number of enrol enrollme lment nt reduct reduction ion mostly mostly came came from from Publi Public c Education Systems. 3. That although although there there is a little little different different in the number number of Public Public and Private Private Schools, Schools,
majority majority of the students students are enrolled enrolled in the Public Public Education Education
System.
Alarming Increase of Drop-out and Out of School Youth There is an alarming increase of Out of School Youth and Student Drop-out as indicated in the table below: Table 1. Participation Rate
Education Level Elementary High School Source: DepEd Fact Sheet
AY 2002-2003 90.29% 59.00%
AY 2006-2007 83.22% 58.59%
AY 2002-2003 71.55% 74.81%
AY 2006-2007 71.72% 72.14%
Table II. Completion Rate
Education Level Elementary High School Source: DepEd Fact Sheet
Local Survival and Retention Rate: Local survival and retention rates remain low: Out of 100 students that enter Grade 1, only 58 go on to high school and only 14 become college graduates. Because education is expensive, students are shifting to public from private schools, most notably in the secondary level. From a 62% enrollment rate previously enjoyed by private schools, the figure significantly dropped to 21% in 2005. Public schools, which in 1965 only had 38% enrollment rate, had this figure rise to 79%.
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/97955/Philippine-education-
still-in-crisis
AGGRAVATING FACTORS The dismal picture picture presented presented where student student survival survival rate is slim is further further aggravated by the the shortages in Classroom, Textbook, Seats , and Teachers. Teachers. Observing the succeeding data presents the gravity of the situation which calls for proper attention.
Teacher : Pupil Ratio Comparison Table III: Selected Asian Country Comparison, Teacher : Pupil Ratio
COUNTRY Elementary Lower Secondary Indonesia 24 : 1 17.6 : 1 Japan 23 : 1 17 : 1 Laos Less than 20 : 1 17 : 1 Malaysia 21 : 1 45 : 1 Philippines 27 : 1 South Korea Thailand 21.5 : 1 Vietnam 30.1 : 1 Source : Education for All – 2000 Assessment Country Reports It is surprising that among the eight Asian countries mentioned, the Philippine Teachers eachers has the highes highestt number number of pupils pupils.. It also point out that the closest closest figu figure re ,Vie ,Vietn tnem em,,
marks marks 33% 33% lowe lowerr load load compar compared ed to Phil Philip ippi pine ne teac teache hers. rs.
Further readings will reveal the effect of these figure to the quality of education.
Shortages... Shortages…. The table below presents the worsening number of classroon and teacher defic deficit it.. Addre Address ssin ing g the the short shortag age e in textb textboo ook k is a good good indi indica cato torr as well well as decrease in the shortages in seats. However, the figure shows the geometrical increase increase of 686 % in in classroom classroom
shortage shortage and artihmetic artihmetic increase increase of 31% in
teacher shortage. Table IV. IV. Classrooms, Seats , Textbooks, and Teachers Teachers Shortages
Shortages
2001-
2002-
2003-
2004-
2005-
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
Classrooms
8,443
12,470
44,716
51,947
57,930
Seats
2,108,17
1,886,49
4.87M
4.56M
3.48M
3
9
Textbook
---
---
24.22M
34.7M
---
Teachers
37,932
35,818
46,356
38,535
49,699
Source: DepEd Briefing Materials, 2002-2005 Budget Hearing
Shortages
2001-2002
2005-2006
Classrooms
8,443
57,930
Teachers
37,932
49,699
Public education in the Philippines is at a crossroads. There are largescale scale short shortag ages es of clas classro sroom oms, s, teach teacher ers, s, desks desks and and chai chairs rs,, text textbo books oks,,
audio-video materials. Over-crowding of classrooms is standard with with class sizes averaging about 80 students per class. The education system is marked by inadequate teacher training programs and declining per capita expenditure per child by the government. For every school-aged child enrolled in in school, there is another another who has
never never attended attended or has dropped dropped out. These These problem problems s are
particularly acute in the conflict-affected areas of Mindanao, especially in the Autonomous
Region
in
Muslim
Mindanao
(ARMM). .
http://philippines.usaid.gov/documents/oed/education.pdf . January 2008.
Teacher Shortage and Brain Drain Though the DepEd Factsheet present a good teacher : pupil/student ratio and also the class class size per classroom classroom,, reality check reveals reveals the shortages shortages in Classroom and Teachers.
As mentioned in an article made by Pinoy Teachers
Network Network writte written n on Novermb Novermber er 12, 2006 , it says: says:
“The exodus of Filipino
teac te ache hers rs ha has s ta take ken n a to tollll on th the e Ph Phililip ippi pine ne ed educ ucat atio iona nall sy syst stem em.. It is no nott uncommon
to
have
a
teacher-to-student
ratio
of
1:150”
http://pinoyteachersnetwork.blogcity.com/brain_gain_not_brain_drain.htm
.
Living Salary Gap Figure below indicates the Living Salary Gap our teacher faces monthly. monthly. Teacher salaries salaries has has not increased increased since since 2001.
Further Further inflation inflation increases increases the the
living salary gap annualy. annualy. Table V. V. Entry Level Salary of Philippine Teachers. Teachers. SALARY Year
Living Salary Cost of Living
Level : Teacher 1
Gap
1998
P8,605
P13,438.80
P4,833.80
1999
P8,605
P13,825.50
P5,220.50
2000
P9,466
P14,825.50
P6,359.10
2001
P9,939
P15,174.30
P5,235.30
2002
P9,939
P15,975.90
P6,036.90
2004
P9,939
P18,069.30
P8,130.30
Family Living Salary 1st Quarter 2006
P19,950 (NCR) P16,3344 (National) (P665/day; P544.80/day – IBON Facts and Figures)
Teacher Exodus Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) Data reveals that 1,666 Filipino teachers leave the country every year to teach in Africa, Europe and Asia while other work as caregivers and domestic help in the Middle East, Hongkong and Singapore. It is saddening that the teachers give up their profession for caregiver or domestic domestic helper job abroad because of the living living salary gap.
The domestic domestic
helper in Hongkong Hongkong for instance instance earns a minimum minimum HK$3,480 HK$3,480 or equivalent equivalent to PhP21,500.
The shorta shortages ges of teache teachers rs abroad, abroad, especia especially lly in U.S. U.S. entice entices s Filipi Filipino no teachers to migrate. It will be noted that by 2014 U.S.A. is projected to need Two (2) Million Teachers to teach their children. http://www.abcte.org/how-we-help http://www.abcte.org/how-we-help.. This prospect of employment in U.S. and other prosperous nations gives a larger salary salary gap alon along g with with other other teache teacherr benef benefit its s such such as free free access access
teac teacher her
trainings/se trainings/seminar minar.. Moreso, teachers teachers in U.S. are being being paid paid when when they go to trainings/seminars. The table below below shows the comparison comparison of the Net Income Income that received received by Teachers in selected countries as of Year 2005. Figures on these countries were Considered Considered since they are the prime destination destination for our teachers. teachers.
It is
observed that the Philippine Teacher’s average net income income for one one year is even less compared to one month average net income of teachers in the United States States..
Our closes closestt neighb neighbor or,, Thaila Thailand, nd, have a 64% higher higher average average net
income of teachers compared to the Philippines. Countries in the which includes South South Korea Korea,, Japan Japan,, Cana Canada da,, Austral Australia ia,,
and and Unit United ed King Kingdo dom m have have thei their r
teacher’s average net income of 9 to 15 times compared to Philippine Teachers. Teachers. Table VI. 2005 Teacher’s Income Comparison with Selected Countries
COUNTRY
Average
Net Income in US$ United States $ 4,055 United Kingdom $ 3,568 Australia $ 2,742 Canada $ 2,236 Japan $ 2,961 South Korea $ 2,096 Thailand $ 388 Philippines $ 237 Source: http://www.worldsalaries.org/teacher.shtml
Rapid Population Growth
Weekly Hours Work Requirement 36.6 32.5 39.1 31.1 No data 39.7 38.0 40.0
Data from National Census and Statistics Office Office cites that the Philippines Philippines official official populati population on count as of August 2007 2007 is 88.57 88.57 Million. Million. Out of this this figure, figure, more than 30% of the population is found at NCR, CALABARZON, and Central Luzon. For eight consecutive years, 2000 to 2007, the population population growth rate is 2.04% per annum. This means that 1.81 Million new babies are being born annually annually..
It is projec projected ted that that by
Philip Philippin pine e Populati Population on is expecte expected d to reach
100Million in 2016. If we we are to continue our present teacher : pupil ratio which is 1 : 45, the govern governme ment nt shoul should d stri strict ctly ly consi conside derr
addre address ssin ing g the the prese present nt short shortage ages s in
classro classroom om and teachers teachers with due addition additional al buffer buffer for the
1.81 1.81 Milli Million on new
students annually (1.81Million is the actual new borns per year).
National Toilet Bowl to Pupil Ratio One of the things which caught the country’s attention is the national toilet bowl ratio which which was feature featured d in the News News Program Programs s of Televis elevision ion,, Radio, Radio, Newspapers, and even the the Internet. Toilet, as a basic facility facility is a must have for all establishments be they public or private in nature. Quoted below is the article written in Inquirer, Inquirer, a top Media Corporation in in the country. country. “The national toilet bowl to pupil ratio stands at 1:51 in primary schools and 1:102 in secondary schools. In the ARMM, it’s 1:171 in the elementary level and 1:250 in the secondary level while in NCR, it’s 1:114 and 1:143, respectively…..…. … Take the case of Silangan Elementary School (Annex) in Taguig, Metro Manila. Last year, all 2,031 students enrolled in that school were provid provided ed
with one toilet bowl. That’ That’s s a toilet bowl to pupil ratio of
1:2,031.” http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/metro/view_article.php?article_ id=143332
TOLL ON THE QUALITY There is a strong perception that the Philippines is lagging behind other Asian countries such as Thailand, Malaysia Malays ia and Singapore. Among the reasons given is the low quality of basic education in the country. Recent High School Readiness Test given to all grade six graduates in public elementary schools in May 2004 show very low scores in science and mathematics test. In the National Secondary Achievement Test Test given in year yea r 2000, students gave correct answers to less than 50% of the questions in science and mathematics. http://www.adb.org/Education/philippines-country-analysis.pdf
In the 2008 World Competitive Yearbook Yearbook of the Swiss-based International Institute for Management Development, the Philippines ranked 52nd out of the 55 countries in education. http://www.gmanews.tv/story/121226/Solon-reiteratescall-for-higher-teachers-salary
DepEd’s BUDGET REVISITED Though the present present education education situation situation in the country which is besiege besiege with problems problems of lack of classrooms, classrooms, facilities, facilities, textbooks textbooks (some of whom have been been foun found d cont contai aini ning ng errone erroneou ous s data data), ), and teac teache herr emig emigra rati tion on pose poses s a gargantuan task for the education officials and the political leaders to save our education sytem. Romulo Nerie, a key Cabinet official official of Gloria Arroyo stated the proposed solution solution of the the government government
that the the Arroyo adminis administrati tration on aims to to build build 6,000
classrooms a year, grant a scholarship for every qualified student from a poor family, family, put a computer in every school.
PROC PROCEE EEDI DING NGS S
– Poli Policy cy Dial Dialog ogue ue
Series 2004 : Academe Meets the Government on the Philippine Economy .
As learned above, above, building building 6,000 new classrooms classrooms per year year is way behind the requirement to address the present shortage in classrooms which continue to add annually because of high population growth.
On budget budget alloca allocation, tion, come 2009, 2009, the DedEd budget will increase increase by 15.32 % from PhP149.25 Billion to PhP167.94 Billion, the biggest budget so far in the history of the department.
However,
it is still insufficient to finance the
abovementioned shortages in the basic education. The original proposed budget given by the DepEd was PhP 259.46 Billion, PhP110.21 PhP110.21 Billion higher than the approved budget. The International Standard for Education budget account for 6% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP. GDP.
Historical data reveals that from Year
2001 to 2007, the DepEd’s budget only account for 2.07 to 2.53 % of GDP, GDP, a substandard figure.
http://www.manilatimes.net/ http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/sep/12/ national/2008/sep/12/yehey/metro/ yehey/metro/20080912met1.html 20080912met1.html
Regarding Regarding the welfare welfare of the Teachers, Teachers, both upper and lower lower house of congress on the other hand have proposed bill, Senate Bill 2408 and House Bill 4734, aimed to increase increase the salary of teachers teachers by PhP9,000 PhP9,000 (from PhP 9,939 to PhP18,939). The bill, if approved, will place the teacher’s salary to Salary Grade 19 from from Salary Salary Grade 10.
Target implementa implementation tion for this this program will
spread on a 3 year timetable or PhP3,000 increase per year for three years.
BUREAUCRACY IN PHILIPPINE EDUCATION SYSTEM: It said that the Philippi Philippine ne Education Educational al system system is bureaucra bureaucratic tic..
Being Being
bureaucratic have its advantages and disadvantages. The advantages of being a burea bureauc ucrat ratic ic are: are: 1.) 1.)
it is is characterized by hierarchical authority relations,
define defined d sphere spheres s of compet competenc ence e subjec subjectt to impers impersonal onal rules, rules, recrui recruitme tment nt by competence, and fixed salaries. 2.) The main aims of a bureaucracy are to be
ratio rational nal,, effi effici cien ent, t, and and prof profes essi sion onal al in the the impl implem ement entat atio ion n of poli polici cies es and and procedures. However, However, sel self-pe f-perp rpet etua uati ting ng..
problems problems arises arises when when bureuacra bureuacracy cy become become self-se self-serving rving and Thi This
resul resultts
to
loss losses es
(overp (overpri riced ced/s /subs ubsta tand ndard ard asset assets, s, supp supply ly,, etc. etc.))
in in
valua valuab ble
reso resour urce ces s
due due to corru corrupt ptio ion n and and the the
plac placeme ement nt of unid unideal eal/s /sub ubst stand andard ard peop people le in the the orga organi nizat zatio ion n beca because use of “palakasan”. This also results to slow down in transactions that need speedy results.
CONCLUSION: Education as a Public Good was created to make sure that progress will continue continue as citizens earns general knowledge knowledge and technological technological know-how. know-how. As the greatest equalizer, education is very important for people in all strata that is for the rich to ensure that they maintain and even upgrade their status in society, and for poor to be competit competitive ive and eventual eventually ly attain attain their their desired desired econom economic ic status. Low quality quality of education give rise to to private schools. The perception that private schools offer better quality education makes many parents enroll their children children to this schools schools which is marred marred with with commerci commercialism alism.. However, However, still majority of Filipinos cannot afford sending their children to private schools for it is even hard for many to to even send children children in public public schools as indicated indicated in low participation rate.
The present administration have inherited flaws in the education system. Shortages in classrooms, teachers, seats, books, and even toilet is a very big problem that besiege the education process. For a country whose whose biggest export is manpower / skilled workers, human capital capital spendin spending g is a seriou serious s matter matter,, and should should be on the top priority priority of the government. An adage adage : “sometimes “sometimes no reaction reaction is a reaction” reaction” is indeed indeed true true much much more the inadequ inadequate ate reactio reaction. n.
Intern Internati ationa onall standar standard d in the Educati Education on
Department’s budget of allocating 6% of a country’s GDP come with basis, that is to ensure that high standard of quality in education is met. Outcome of the shortages in education’s budget is clearly manifested in differ different ent aspect aspects. s.
Effec Effectiv tivene eness ss in in learn learning ing is affec affected ted as we we witne witness ss
our
students fare low on diagnostic test test in comparison with our neighbors countries. Aggr Aggrava avati ting ng fact factors ors such such as the the exod exodus us of teac teache hers rs beca because use of low low salari salaries, es, the the student student to to teacher teacher ratio ratio,,
lack lack of facili facilitie ties s and other other matte matters rs
continue to take its toll on our most valuable product: the Filipino. It is true that the Arroyo administration inherited problems in education. However, the government has the power to inflict change and not to worsen the status quo. As Babe Ruth used to say, say, “You “You can pay now and and play later, later, or play now and pay later. But either way, way, you will have to pay”.
REFERENCES: 2007 DepEd Fact Sheet Education for All – 2000 Assessment Country Reports IBON Facts and Figures PROCEEDINGS – Policy Dialogue Series 2004 : Academe Meets the
Government on the Philippine Economy . http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/sep/12/yehey/metro/20080912met1.ht ml http://www.gmanews.tv/story/121226/Solon-reiterates-call-for-higher-teacherssalary http://www.adb.org/Education/philippines-country-analysis.pdf http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/metro/view_article.php?article_id=1433 32 http://www.worldsalaries.org/teacher.shtml http://www.abcte.org/how-we-help.. http://www.abcte.org/how-we-help
http://pinoyteachersnetwork.blogcity.com/brain_gain_not_brain_drain.htm http://philippines.usaid.gov/documents/oed/education.pdf http://www.gmanews.tv/story/97955/Philippine-education-still-in-crisis
