Edong eyes ‘bailout’ for RP education

It’s neither a bird nor a plane, but "Mr. Education" is out to save the Philippine school system.

Top opposition Sen. Edgardo Angara has drafted a P30 billion, comprehensive five-year crash program to be known as "emergency learning package" to prevent the slide of Philippine education into mediocrity.

Angara announced the bailout at the commencement exercises of the University of the Philippines in the Visayas, for which nationwide system he once served as president.

He said it was urgent to save Philippine education from mediocrity within the next five years.

"We need to take education by its head and improve its quality, and not just its quantity within the next five years," he said. "The next five-year period may well be our last window of opportunity in reforming Philippine education."

Angara said the following are the six components of the "emergency total learning package":

• Establishing a basic education fund.

• Finding new sources of financing for education.

• Strengthening teacher-training program in science and mathematics.

• Prioritizing spending for basic education.

• Setting up a school for basic education.

• Promoting a "Keep the Kids in School" scheme.

Filipino students are now one of the poorest performers in Asia, ranking lowest in science and math tests in East Asia, he added.

Angara said average scores in the National Elementary Assessment Test and the National Secondary Assessment Test remain lower than the passing rate of 70 percent.

"One of three students drop out by the sixth grade," he said. "More than half drop out before finishing high school," he said. "While most Filipinos get enough schooling to learn to read and write, many of them do not stay in school long to be prepared for higher education of gainful livelihood in an industrializing economy."

Angara said hunger and malnutrition are major reasons behind the high dropout rate among students.

"Some 10.5 million pre-schoolers are malnourished, while 8.5 million children between the ages of 6 and 10 are underweight and growth-stunted," he said.

Angara has authored a bill seeking a special education fund that would solve the acute and perennial backlog in school buildings.

Another Angara proposal is the creation of a P15-billion school innovation fund which could be used to finance the training of teachers, set up science laboratories, and computerize public schools.

Angara has also asked the national government to tap "non-traditional" sources to generate much-needed investments for education.

Public-private partnerships to raise funds should be encouraged and investors in education should take advantage of the build-operate-transfer law, he added.

Angara also called for a sustained and well-funded program to ease the problem of child malnutrition.

In the Eighth and Ninth Congresses, Angara gained the reputation as "Mr. Education" for authoring and sponsoring landmark education bills.