World Bank okays $200-M loan to improve RP education

The World Bank (WB) has approved a $200-million loan to improve basic education in the Philippines, which recently ranked among the lowest 10 percent of countries in terms of the quality of its math and science classes.

The WB said the loan will be used to fund the Department of Education (DepEd)’s implementation of its Basic Education Sector Reform Agenda (BESRA).

The loan, one of the biggest for the Philippines in recent years, will be used to train school staff in financial accountability, improve teaching standards and raise the quality of key curricula, including English, Filipino, math and science, the bank said in a statement.

Specifically, the loan will fund the government’s National Program Support for Basic Education (NPSBE) project, which seeks to improve quality and equity in learning outcomes in basic education.

The WB said that while the Philippines had been acclaimed as one of the most highly-educated countries, national and international tests in recent years have shown the quality of education is slowly eroding.

The 2003 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study ranked the Philippines in the lowest 10 percent of participating countries in both subjects for Grades 4 and 8.

For school year 2003 to 2004, only 20 percent of Grade 6 pupils and less than one percent of high school seniors mastered the basic competencies of these subjects, the study said.

Finance Secretary Margarito Teves has said the loan is consistent with an overall agreement between the government and the World Bank.

Teves said the loan is timely and appropriate, as it will finance expenditures critical to ensuring the delivery of education services.

The support has a strategic focus: fiscal reform in the short term, while helping the DepEd become more effective in the longer term, she added.

DepEd officer-in-charge Fe Hidalgo, on the other hand, said the reforms to be undertaken under this project will improve the decentralization of services and the rationalization of the country’s educational system in ways that improve quality, equity, governance and financing.

"The project emphasizes improved governance through effective, school-based management, enhanced teaching, quality assurance, and better resource mobilization, including greater involvement of local government units (LGUs) and more systemic support from private sector partnerships," Hidalgo said.

WB-Philippines Country Director Joachim von Amsberg underscored the connection between the fiscal reforms and improvements in the delivery of basic social services, such as education.

"The recent fiscal reforms and the resulting fiscal improvements have created a more favorable environment to support strategic reforms for better public services, such as education sector reforms," von Amsberg said. "Increased tax collection can have a direct impact on better public services such as education. The World Bank is pleased to support the Philippines through low-cost financing, specifically for policy reforms and for improvements in the quality and governance of public spending on education."

He added that "such improvements are essential for service delivery and for public trust. The World Bank’s strategy for the Philippines is designed to support those strategic priorities in the national budget that achieve fiscal stability and improved governance." — With AP