Problems
and Issues in Philippine Education
By
: Jerry Claire
I
was watching a commercial in Knowledge Channel in Sky Cable long time ago
regarding the state of Philippine education. According to the commercial, the
country is 2nd to the last in the South-East Asian region in terms
of the quality of education. This is embarrassing to think that some of the
best educational institutions in the region are in the Philippines. But despite
these, why is it that the Philippines is lagging behind its neighbors? Is there
something wrong with our state of education? If you ask our students even you
are going to conduct a survey, many will agree that it is really the quality of
education is to blame. Many felt that the curriculum set by the Department of
Education (DepEd) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) is not enough
to let our students to be globally competitive. Some said that some subjects
and even the curriculum are lacking. For example, Mathematics and Science, both
are the bulk of most of the educational institution in different countries. But
in our country and in our school, many said that these subjects should be
taught comprehensively and intensively because this will serve as the backbone
of the country’s development and of our school in the near future. This is why
other Asian countries outpaced the Philippines in terms of economical and
industrial growth because these countries invested in the fields of Mathematics
and Sciences. Another problem pestering the quality of Philippine education and
in schools is the quality and proficiency of the teachers. According to a
recent news article, Filipino teachers lack proficiency in English, Science and
Mathematics. Many said that these areas should have been trained
comprehensively since as teachers of these subjects, should be able to teach
the students with a more quality for future growth. But with what I see and what
is the reality, we, teachers have problems of our own. One example, and the
most obvious, is the low salary and terrible working condition. Many of us opt
to have “other odd jobs ” during class that sometimes the teacher simply forgets
to teach but mainly focuses on how to let both ends meet. But who can blame for
our meager salaries of around 10000-15000 pesos, plus deductible, who can a
teacher provide for his/her family? And with the rising cost of living, these
figures are not enough. For example, many of our teachers in the school is
doing direct selling of different products if not using the situation of other
teachers whose salary is not enough to send to school her children by letting
them borrow money with a higher interest rate. This resulted to more debts for
the teacher that she cannot pay for it on time thus extending other loans to
other institutions in order to cope up for everyday living. One more thing is
the ration of teachers to students. In a typical public school, in every one
teacher there are60-70 students in a class! In addition, the poorly ventilated
and dilapidated classrooms that adds up to the worsening situation of both the
teacher and student inside these classrooms. The school facilities can also be
a factor of the problem. The Philippines, both in private and public, lacks sophisticated
laboratories and facilities to cater the needs of the students. For example,
many public schools are still lacking the basic computer laboratories and it is
so ironic that computer nowadays, computer education is crucial for future
Computer Studies student. Without proper training in computer, how can a student
be competitive and computer literate?
Lastly,
a common problem of our Philippine education is the rising cost of sending a
child to school. Private schools charges skyrocketing tuition and miscellaneous
fees to a student that parents are having a hard time to cope with the rising
cost of education. Even sending a child in a public school doesn’t fare better
since even the poorest of the poor cannot afford to send a child in school. I
remember vividly a story of a public schoolteacher with a pupil of him. He said
that this student was so poor that teachers pay for everything so she can go to
school. The teachers don’t mind this sacrifice because the student is so bright
and intelligent. She never went to college after high school since she cannot
really afford it anymore. What saddened the teachers is that this student
passed UP but with no scholarship. Right now, many see education not as
necessity but a luxury they cannot afford. The state of Philippine education is
indeed sad and disheartening. We
probably
all asking who’s to blame for all this mess. But we cannot simply point finger
since we all have responsibilities to solve these problem. The government tries
its best to give the country and it seemed not enough. But we should not blame
the government entirely since it is just not the government’s problems. It is
the problem of each and every one of us.
If
we want the highest quality of education in the country, we should work
together to solve this problem. Solutions DepEd mentions such interventions as
the new curriculum, education service contracting, multi-shift classroom policy,
library hubs, early childhood education, madrasah education, inclusive
education, alternative learning system, school feeding, Every Child a Reader
Program (ECARP), competency-based teacher assessment standards,
computerization, Schools First, Brigada Eskwela, Sagip Eskwela, Adopt-a-School,
Oplan Balik Eskwela,and the Basic Education Sector Reform Agenda (BESRA).The
first thing to be creative about is the nature of the classroom itself. Why, in
this age of cellphones, computers, and television, do we need to have
classrooms at all? Obviously, because interacting with the teacher is better
than just using or learning with the use of technology. That is undeniable, but
we can be creative about the length of time children have to be inside a
classroom.
Issues,
concern, and Problem of the Philippine education
Synopsis
Introducation:
There
are a lot of problems and concerns face by any institution that has connection
to Philippine education. One of the challenging problem of the Philippine
education is not satisfying mean average on National Achievement Test and
National Career and Aptitude Exam. According on Dr. Soliven on one of his
presentation the result of NAT (2004) reflect that student are not acquiring
the basic thing or ideas that they must acquire. The score of NAT during that
time was devastating only 0.64% scored 75% or better. It means that out of 1.2
million examinees only 8,000 students get a passing score and above. This score
says a lot of thing to the kind of quality of education that our country
offers. The score on NAT during indicate that student doesn’t acquire the
necessary knowledge and skills that must gain. To issues about Philippine
education is the affordability of it. One of the article I read stated that
only students form w well of family proceed and pursue tertiary education. This
means that not all children can afford to go to college so this is contrary to
the statement that in the Philippines education is for all.
Summary of Discussion:
On
cities with high population, congestion, lack of learning materials, lack of
teacher and good facilities are usual situation. These things are probably the
reasons why student doesn’t get quality education. Lack of disaster risk
preparedness is one of the issues that government must give attention. In times
of calamities school are usually flooded and damaged that result to lost of
important files and damaged on infrastructure. The best example of it is what
happened to Tacloban and some part of Leyte during typhoon Yolanda it took a
lot of time before the regular life of people their came back. According to an
article in rappler.com 3,200 public schools were destroyed in Leyte Samar
almost 90% of school building have been damage and only 30% was completed as of
2016. Corruption in Philippine education is also sizzling issues, money is
important for any institution it maybe use for improvement and enhancement of
facilities, material, building more infrastructure and supporting student who
are not capable of providing their needs in pursuing their studies. This money
only goes to the pocket of corrupt officials of the government instead of using
this money to enhance quality education. There is only limited budget allotted
for education in the Philippines and it’s the lowest among countries in South
East. Low budget for education probably is because our country doesn’t have
that much income to support the needs of our country especially in education
but this is also the reason to some problem in education such as lack of
equipment and materials necessary for teaching and learning process. Another is
the increase number of dropouts. Statistics conclude that only half of graduate
proceed to college. For example in Batasan hills out of 2,600graduates from
high school only 89 enrolled on the following year. Another issues is teacher
mismatch because of lack of teachers,
government and other schools hired teachers who are not fitted on certain
subject matter and they are not equip in teaching learning process.
In
the first question we stated different problems and issues faced by Philippine
education. Those problems have some effects to the learners. First of it is
wrong attitude of the students towards education. Lack of learning material and
facilities result student not to get the proper information that they must
have. It may cause them to talk with their seatmates instead of listening to
their teacher and focusing to the lesson. Another is not enough equipment such as
projector, computer, science laboratory, speak laboratory and others. We all
know that student today is in 21st century this means that they are more motivated to learn
using new technology and they want to explore new things by their own teachers
must adapt to the kind of learners that they have and they must consider that
lack of facilities will hinder the progress in education. Student may also have
the wrong connotation that learning is boring thing to do.
Another hot issue is lack of disaster risk
preparedness. Student safety are at risk because we are not that much prepared
in times of calamities that may result to more casualties. Late announcement
and improper disaster management is resulting more damage specially in learning
facilities.
The long term effect of those problems are,
first student are not ready to be employed. The skills and knowledge that some
big company and employer is looking for doesn’t manifest to the kind of
graduates that our educational sector is producing. Being globally competitive of the workers is
really important especially for the whole economy of our country since OFW are
one of the largest income provider in our country. We are living in a globalize
world those people who are not able to adapt to change will be left out.
If
the problems stated at the first question will continue to exist. The quality
of education here in the Philippines will be at risk. Education system will
just create low salary workers and not an inventor or high salary worker. If
this will happen it will result to further chaos like increase of crimes since
many can’t provide for the needs of their family. Unplanned family planning
that will result to more dependent children and sooner may result to the fall
of our economy. The corruption in Philippine education can’t be put a side it
is the cause why there are problem on lack of learning materials, facilities ,better
infrastructure that accommodate more students and scholarship for more student.
Those student who have perseverance to pursue their studies doesn’t given
chance to enhance their knowledge and skills because of the corruption of those
government officials.
In
conclusion education in the Philippines face a lot of issues and problems that
must address as soon as possible
Reflection:
As I read articles
about the issues, problems and concerns face by Philippine education I become
devastated and the reality broke my heart. Imagine there are lot of student who
doesn’t finish their studies and number of drop out is increasing every year level.
Education is important for every human being especially in Filipino culture. Yes
our country are known for its high literacy rate but are we contented on it. There
are lots of students from remote area who still have a hard time going to
school. Some of them need to cross over
the mountains and the river just to go to school and as a citizen of the
republic of the Philippines what are we doing on problem like this. There are
lack of school facilities and equipment like chairs, books, laboratory, decent comfort
room, projector and others. Probably we are too much in love for the lives we
have here in urban cities and we neglect the needs of our countrymen in other
places.
Department
of education is also facing the challenge of producing globally competitive
workers. In the near future connection around the world will be faster and
wider for this reason our workers should have higher level of knowledge and
skills. ASEAN integration is one of the
reason why our government need to impose k-12. It is one of the preparation of
our country to achieve the aim of Southeast Asian Nation. Aside of it there are
also the threat of terrorism and other natural calamities like earthquake, and
typhoon that can hinder educations success in some other area.
I
realize that I am really blessed because I graduate in a school that is well
ventilated and complete in facilities. There is a great challenge upon my
shoulders, knowing the current situation of education here in the Philippines
increase my passion to teach the next generation. The issues that I learn from
this article will be my inspiration to be a good and effective teacher so I can
help my community to prosper. I will
make sure that I will help not enable anyone to put our country into shame.
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