A nation's survival - education

The survival of a nation lies in the quality of its education, as underscored by Dr. Ronald Meinardus, the former resident representative of the Freidrich Naumann Foundation in the Philippines who said, “the economic development of a nation is a function of the quality of education. In other words, the more and better educated a people, the greater the chances of economic development.” I have always maintained that education is the great equalizer, and that wealth can be lost but knowledge is something that can never be taken away from anyone.

For many Filipinos, education is the only way out of the grinding poverty they are in, with parents endure backbreaking work just to be able to send their children to school. Unfortunately, the quality of education in this country has been deteriorating over the years especially with many of our good teachers leaving for better paying jobs abroad. Fortunately, there are groups like the Ayala Foundation (AF) who are spearheading efforts to provide scholarships by soliciting the help of other corporations to support the education of bright students who come from marginalized families. AF Executive Vice President Bill Luz sent me a letter explaining about the Center of Excellence in Public Elementary Education or Centex, a joint project with the Department of Education.

Education is certainly one area where the generosity of companies can make a lot of difference in the lives of many Filipinos. Other corporations are also doing the same thing like Lucio Tan with the Foundation for Upgrading the Standard of Education or FUSE that aims to improve teachers’ skills in English, Science and Math in order to upgrade the quality of education in the country. While we are proud of CNN hero Efren Peñaflorida, his story only underscores the gravity of the problem of education in this country, and the inability of the government to address such problems. 

Add to that the brain drain that happens when this country’s best teachers have no choice but to work abroad because what they earn here is not enough to support their families. As a consequence, many of those left behind do not have the competence to teach in critical areas like English, Math and Science – which in turn produces mediocre students with poor comprehension skills. This is compounded by the perennial lack of classrooms, books, desks and other teaching materials in public schools.

Data from the National Statistics Office shows that as of 2003, about one in every 10 Filipinos aged 10-64 are illiterate, meaning they can neither read nor write. Out of 100 students who enter grade one, only 60 percent will be able to reach grade six. As for high school students, only 42 out of 100 will most likely continue to college, and only 14 will earn a college degree. We may keep saying that education is a right, not a privilege, but the sad reality is that government does not have enough resources to accommodate the number of children enrolled in public schools. Those who have the money prefer to enroll their children to private schools since more often than not, these institutions have better teachers, better facilities, more tools and therefore offer better quality education than public schools.

According to a study, out of the 12.8 million students enrolled in the elementary level, 11.9 million or 93 percent are enrolled in public schools. These public schools lack 16,000 to 20,000 classrooms – a fact that Education Secretary Jesli Lapus has admitted on so many occasions. As a result, teachers have to hold classes along hallways or under the shade of trees and more often than not, the size of each class is between 50-60. Worse, school administrators are forced to hold three shifts starting at six in the morning up to eight in the evening. How then can we expect children to learn anything substantial with teachers hurrying for the next shift, holding classes of as many as 80 students and with a textbook ratio of seven students to one book? Even if parents have the money to send their children to school, the problem is that there’s just no more space to accommodate all these students. 

Even with a very big budget, it’s obvious that government can’t solve this problem by itself. Which is why it is opportune that institutions like Centex are partnering with the Department of Education to provide poor but deserving students the kind of quality education comparable with that of the country’s best schools. Bill Luz says that over the years, a number of their Grade 6 students have been admitted to such specialized schools as Philippine Science High School and Manila Science High School where they continue to receive scholarships. To date, two Centex centers have already been built in Tondo, Manila and Batangas in partnership with local government units and companies like Ayala Land and Purefoods Corp.

In Mindanao where many of the poorest provinces are located, several groups have been providing assistance in partnership with the DepEd, such as the Basic Education Assistance for Mindanao or BEAM with funding from the Australian government through AusAID. At the end of the day, however, no matter how many generous corporations or foundations like Ayala try to help out, the perennial problems that bedevil our educational system will persist for years to come, especially with a projected population of 115 million by 2015.

Whoever the next leader will be, one of the things he will have to prioritize is the area of education in a country where there are not enough classrooms, not enough textbooks, not enough good teachers and not enough money to ensure quality education.

* * *

Email: [email protected]