Now that we are going back to face-to-face classes after two long years of online struggles for both learners and teachers, attention is once again focused on the state of our educational system, particularly the quality of Philippine education.
There are proposals here and there on how to make education in the Philippines more competitive. For example, Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte-Carpio plans to remove administrative tasks from teachers so they could focus more on teaching. And President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. wants to bring back the use of the English language as a medium of instruction in schools. He also wants Filipino students to improve in the international rankings, particularly in STEM—Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics—subjects.
Others are advocating substantial reforms, starting with the DepEd’s budget, to expand access and develop higher achievement standards and goals. The results of the 2018 Program for International Student Assessment revealed that 15-year-old students in the Philippines scored lower in reading, mathematics and science than those in most of the countries and economies that participated—the country ranked last among 79 participating countries and economies in reading, and second to last in science and mathematics.
The World Bank estimates that learning poverty in the Philippines, which means being unable to read and understand a simple text by age 10, is now at 90.9 percent. In a report dubbed The State of Global Learning Poverty: 2022 Update, the lender said its estimate of the learning poverty in the country was based on “2022 simulations that build on the most up-to-date data.”
A recent report jointly conducted by the United Nations Children’s Fund and the Philippine government—Situation Analysis of Children in the Philippines—said 31.4 percent of over 40 million Filipino children were living below the basic needs poverty line in 2015.
The report said as of 2013, only about 42 percent of children aged 3-4 years were enrolled in day-care centers. Enrollment in Kindergarten, however, almost doubled from 2005 to 2013 (standing at 74.65 percent in 2015).
The report added: “In 2015, the net enrollment rate in primary education was 91.05 percent and 68.15 percent in secondary school. As of 2015, 83.4 percent (primary) and around 73.9 percent (secondary) of enrolled children actually completed their schooling, reflecting a somewhat fluctuating rise in completion rates from 2010. Around 2.85 million children aged 5-15 years were also estimated to be out of school.”
The PISA results in 2018 were based on actual test performances of 15-year-old Filipino students. We don’t know where the World Bank researchers got their data to come out with an estimate saying learning poverty in the Philippines is now at 90.9 percent. What we know is that the World Bank’s researchers did some “simulations” where they concluded that almost all 10-year-old kids in the country are “unable to read and understand a simple text.” But it pays to remember that the lender prepared the report for its own purposes, not for the benefit of the Philippines. Which is why we should take this World Bank report with a grain of salt.
There are more mobile phones in the country than the total population. As of 2019, there were nearly 169 million mobile subscribers in the Philippines. We have yet to meet a 10-year-old Filipino kid who can’t send a text message on a mobile phone.
Unfortunately, the World Bank report alarmed Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture in the 19th Congress, who said he is lining up priority measures to respond to the “crisis” in education.
“Addressing the education crisis will be the focus of the Senate Education Committee,” Gatchalian said, confirming he has filed an enabling Senate resolution paving the way for an inquiry into the implementation of RA 10533, the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013, or the K-to-12 Law. The Senator pointed out that based on results of international large-scale assessments, learners are failing to master basic competencies and lagging behind their peers abroad (Read, “Senator lines up measures to reverse ‘education crisis,’” in the BusinessMirror, July 25, 2022).
We know there are deficiencies and inefficiencies in the country’s public school system. Some of these include the lack of classrooms, teachers, and educational tools to sustain sound learning. Studies have shown that low government budget for education, poor quality of teachers, poor school facilities such as laboratory and library facilities, poor learning environment, and the content of the curriculum all contribute to the deteriorating quality of education in the country.
We hope that President Marcos and Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte-Carpio will succeed in addressing these and other education-related issues.