EDITORIAL – Privilege for a few

Education is supposed to be a ticket out of poverty, offering equal opportunities for advancement to rich and poor alike. This door to a better life is supposed to be open to all. Yet limited resources, poorly trained teachers and sheer mismanagement have made mandatory free education in this country fail to live up to its promise.

Reading statistics provided by a non-government organization involved in education is alarming. Only six out of every 1,000 sixth grade graduates have the competence to enter high school, the Kaakbay Citizens’ Development Initiatives reported. Only two out of every 100 high school graduates are prepared to enter college. Among students in 45 countries, Filipinos rank 41st in the sciences and 42nd in mathematics.

And it’s not just the quality of graduates that is worrisome. The NGO also reported that only 19 percent of public school teachers have the competence and confidence to teach English, the lingua franca of the Information Age. The NGO enumerated other problems that education officials have acknowledged: lack of classrooms, textbooks, desks. The worst affected are rural areas. Quality education, the group noted, has become a privilege for the few who can afford it.

Most of the NGO’s assessments are not new. Education officials themselves have acknowledged the alarming deterioration in the quality of Philippine education, which has pulled down the nation’s competitiveness. Mandatory tests to assess eligibility for high school and college have consistently shown disheartening results, with the failure rate high despite unusually low passing scores.

The worst deterioration is seen in science, mathematics and English. Measures are being implemented to stop the slide. The public school curriculum was revised and a new grading system imposed starting last school year. The disappointing although unsurprising result: about two-thirds of students flunked the school year.

Reversing the slide is not going to be easy with much of the national budget going to debt servicing and the government running a massive deficit. Many qualified teachers have left for better paying jobs abroad, and the brain drain continues. There is a growing divide between millions of underprivileged students and the few who can afford quality education. The consequences of this crisis will be felt for many years, ensuring the failure of poverty alleviation programs and hobbling national growth.