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| Scrounging
Funds to Finance Public Schools in the Philippines |
| By By
Marites Sison |
|
Inter
Press Service
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 MANILA,
Apr 25 (IPS) - Classes conducted under the shade of fruit
trees or in dilapidated school buildings are not uncommon
in rural areas in the Philippines.
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| And
with the meager share of funds for education in the government's
annual budget, it will take some time before the shortage of
classrooms, books, desks, chairs, and even teachers can be adequately
addressed. |
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| The
education department admits it needs to build 21,000 classrooms
and hire 10,000 teachers for public schools across the country
to fill the current shortfall, but the problem is finding the
money to fund this. |
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| No
wonder that the quality of education has deteriorated fast in
a country that once boasted one of the highest literacy rates
in Asia.. |
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While
there are 16 million enrolled in public elementary and high
schools, the Philippines ''spends only one-eighth of what
Thailand sets aside for basic education'', says a journalist
who has written extensively on the education sector.
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| There
has been a minimal increase in public spending for social services
--basic education, preventive health care, water and sanitation
- in proportion to total public spending, according to Philip
Tuaqo, of the Ateneo de Manila University's Center for Policy
Studies. |
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| ''Human
proportion (share of spending on basic social services to total
budget) barely increased from its 11 to 12 percent levels in
10 years or from 1987 to 1997,'' he said. |
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| The
under-investment in education and other basic social services
was also noted by UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy during
a visit to Manila last month. ''If you want return on investment,
invest on children, ''Bellamy urged the government and private
sector. She had also noted that ''moderate malnutrition'' among
Filipino schoolchildren hampered their ability to learn. |
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Malnutrition resulting from poverty has been cited by UNESCO
as one of the factors contributing to the problem of education.
A UNESCO study in 1999 said as many as 1.7 million Filipino
children in the 7-12 age bracket are out of school. Most are
from the country's poorest provinces. |
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''Although public elementary education is free, school-related
expenses like transportation fare, snacks, lunch, school supplies
and other learning materials are beyond the financial capabilities
of poor parents,'' UNESCO said. |
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Out of every
100 Filipino schoolchildren enrolled every year, 66 will complete
elementary education, 42 will finish high school but only 14
will earn a college degree, says the Center for Asia- Pacific
Studies. |
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The government
is trying to improve the quality of education. For one, it has
initiated a textbook acquisition programme to improve the textbook-to-student
ratio in public schools. |
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Under a
World Bank-financed programme for 26 poor provinces, the education
department hopes to bring the ratio to one book for every three
students in the school year beginning June. The current ratio
is 1:6 in grade school and 1:8 in high school. |
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| With
additional funds already earmarked by the Philippine Congress,
it expects to bring down the ratio further to 1:2 by June 2001.
Another loan from the Asian Development Bank is projected to
achieve the ideal ratio of 1:1 by June 2002. |
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Results
of a government-sponsored survey called Teachers' Assistance
for Optimum Well-being (TAO) again brought to the public's attention
the deteriorating curriculum quality and teacher competence. |
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The survey,
conducted to gather information on the welfare and working conditions
of public school teachers nationwide, corroborated earlier findings
of UNESCO and other agencies on what ails the Philippine educational
system. |
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Of 405,973
teachers polled, 55 percent said their schools had no access
to electricity, while 84 percent had no running water. Only
38 percent are provided with toilets. |
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About one-fourth
said they taught in classrooms without ceilings; 45 percent
of them said they brought their own tables to school, 43 percent
brought their own chairs. Those who do have tables and chairs
say these are of poor condition and pose a hazard to users. |
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''If these
furniture are inadequate, it is the school's obligation that
these be provided,'' said Senator Tessie Aquino- Oreta, who
sponsored the survey in her capacity as chair of the Senate
Committee on Education. |
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Teachers
themselves have also long been identified as part of the problem
and the survey results bear this out. ''The very small proportion
of teachers who majored in math or science indicates that a
significant proportion of teachers are teaching the two subjects
but are not actually trained to handle them,'' the study said.
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This lack
of teaching competence, according to journalist Yvonne Chua,
''explains why the public school system churns out graduates
who are totally unprepared for a complex world''. |
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In 1995,
the Philippines ranked third to the last in elementary math
and second to the last in elementary science in an international
test taken by half a million elementary and high school students
in 45 countries |
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Chua, who
has written a book and extensive articles on Philippine education
for the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ),
said low salaries and poor working conditions have meant that
''for decades, education attracted the lower third of graduating
students or the 'dregs' as Education Secretary Andrew Gonzalez
sometimes calls them.'' |
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The survey
has also pointed out the urgent need to retrain teachers who
graduated 20 years ago. It also noted that most public school
principals are not equipped with managerial skills. In fact,
only 22 percent received training for their positions. |
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''An extensive
training for schoolheads would help define their roles,'' Oreta
said. ''This is deemed important considering that schoolheads
are overall responsible for maintaining a conducive learning
environment for students and the proper work condition for teachers.'' |
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In 'Failing
Marks', an article published in March by PCIJ's 'I Magazine',
Chua pointed to the growing gap between public and private schools.
A major reason, Chua said, ''is that the public educational
system is weighed down by its sheer size''. |
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She said
the public school system has ''poured its energies on widening
access rather than upgrading the quality of schooling'' |
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To meet
the growing demand for education, the education department has
resorted to three-class shifts in urban areas and the multi-grade
system (where pupils from different grades are combined) in
sparsely-populated areas. |
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This has
resulted in shorter learning hours, according to Chua, who estimates
that one school whose students had to give up two hours of learning
every school day for four years lost 1,600 valuable hours of
learning. |
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The Project
TAO survey said most multi-grade teachers are copping out of
this system not only because it is more difficult than mono-grade
teaching but for lack of additional support and compensation. |
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From the
survey emerged another alarming development: the current teaching
force is aging. About one-third will retire within the next
10 years. |
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''If the
plan to lower the retirement age to 55 pushes through, then
the (government) budget will have to factor in the financial
requirements for the retirement benefits of 126,900 teachers,''
Project TAO said. The more difficult question is, will there
be enough personnel to replace them.. |
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| This article
is free of copyright restrictions and can be reproduced provided
that Inter Press Service is credited. |
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