Missing Targets: An alternative MDG midterm report

The missed education

of the Filipino people
„ By RENE R. RAYA*

I
N October 2007, the Philippine Government released its Midterm Progress
Report on the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). Earlier in July 2007,
the Department of Education (DepED) presented its preliminary report on
the Mid-Decade Assessment of the Education for All (EFA). The reports pre-
sented the trends in basic education, admitting that progress has been slow and
uneven, and that the key targets will most likely be missed. The target of achieving
universal primary education by 2015 has now become the most threatened goal
among the eight MDGs.
* Mr. Raya is a Co-convenor of Social Watch Philippines, member of the management collective, Action for Economic
Reforms and Coordinator of the Education Finance Committee of the Education Network (E-Net)

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Missing Targets: An alternative MDG midterm report

Assessment of MDG Goal #2

Average
Current Rate of Probability of
Baseline Level Target by Progress Attaining the
(1990) (2005/2006) 2015 (1990-2005/06) Targets

Participation Rate 85.1 84.44 100 -0.05 Low

Cohort Survival Rate 68.4 69.9 84.67 0.11 Low

Source: NEDA, October 2007

The discussions in both documents were quite The government admitted that while enrolment
frank and extensive, but conveniently avoided going figures have risen over the years, key performance
deeper into the key issues that account for the declin- indicators have been declining consistently since
ing performance of the education sector. This article 2001, falling way short of the EFA targets for the
will attempt to pursue the discussion, analyze the key corresponding years. Net enrolment, cohort sur-
issues and present the challenges ahead. Included in vival and completion rates for both elementary and
this report is a presentation of the EFA Development secondary levels were all down. In SY 2005-2006,
Index (EDI) for Philippine provinces based on Unesco’s participation rate in elementary education went
annual global monitoring of the progress in achieving down to 84.41 percent from 90.10 percent recorded
the EFA goals. in SY 2001-2002. Meanwhile, dropout rates posted
record levels in both elementary (10.57 percent)
Trends in basic education and literacy1 and secondary schools (15.81). The Department
The midterm reports on the MDG and the EFA of Education reported that more learners drop out
indicate that enrollment rate in basic education has from the system particularly in the lower grade lev-
been growing at a fairly consistent rate of 2.5 per- els, even before functional literacy is acquired. The
cent per year over the past two decades. By 2007, an Department of Education also noted the low par-
estimated 20 million students were enrolled in some ticipation of children in early childhood education
53,000 schools around the country. About 13.5 million (ECE), with only 34 percent of the 3-5 age group
were enrolled in primary schools, and 6.5 million were attending preschool and 60 percent of entrants in
in secondary schools. the first grade having ECE background.

Key Indicators – Elementary Education Education Scoreboard

Alarming DROP OUT Rate and still RISING!
95
90 18
85
15
80
75 12
%

70 9
65
6
60
55 3
2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06
50 School Year
2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06
School Year 1.8 Million dropouts (Primary Level) and 3.9 Million (Secondary Level)
Source: DepEd. Fact Sheet, Basic Education Statistics (as of August 31, 2006).
http://www.deped.gov.ph/cpanel/uploads/issuanceImg/factsheet2006(Mar28).pdf

1
Data for this section were drawn from the following sources: 1) Midterm Progress Report on the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), NEDA, October 2007;
2) Draft Report on the Mid-Decade Assessment of the Education for All (EFA), Department of Education, July 2007; 3) DepEd Factsheet, February 2007; and
4) Functional Literacy Education and Mass Media Survey 2003, National Statistics Office.

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 Missing Targets: An alternative MDG midterm report

The continued dropping out of children from the

school system explains the low survival and comple-
tion rates and indicates the weak holding capacity of
the public school system. Elementary cohort survival
in SY 2005-2006 went down to 58.36 percent while
completion rate declined further to 56.76 percent.
The corresponding figures for secondary education are
59.10 percent and 54.14 percent, respectively. Wide
disparities in cohort survival and completion rates were
observed among regions across the country.
The poor quality of education is clearly shown
by the erratic and consistently low scores obtained by
pupils in achievement tests administered by the Depart-
ment of Education over the years. The increases in test Filipinos had completed high school or had achieved
results show only marginal improvement and the scores higher educational levels.
fell far short of the desirable level. The low quality of A significant number of Filipino children are out-
education delivered by the public school system can also side the school system. Based on the FLEMMS 2003,
be gleaned from the poor performance of teachers in 11.6 million children and youth aged 6 to 24 years old
assessment tests, with some of them scoring no better were not attending school. About half of them or 5.6
than the students they teach. million belong to the age group 15-21 years old. Poverty
School enrolment and performance indicators and related factors were the main reasons cited for not
tell only half of the story of the current state of basic attending school. Some 30.5 percent cited employment
education in the Philippines. The other half tells about as the reason for not attending school. One of every
the continuing problem of illiteracy and the increas- five (20 percent) cited the high cost of education as the
ing number of children missing an education. The reason for not attending school; while another 11.8
Functional Literacy, Education and Mass Media Survey percent cited housekeeping work.
(FLEMMS) conducted in 2003 shows some positive
results. Around 93 percent of Filipinos 10 years and The global comparison
above were found to be basically literate. The same There was a time when the Philippines, along with
survey also noted that 84.1 percent of Filipinos 6 to Sri Lanka, Thailand and South Korea, used to be the
64 year old were functionally literate. top education performers in Asia. Today, the country
The statistical reports, however, also revealed is among the lowest performers in Asia and the rest of
certain alarming findings about the literacy and edu- the developing world.
cational status of Filipinos. Notwithstanding the high According to the Asian Development Bank (ADB),
level of school participation among Filipino children, net enrollment ratio has deteriorated over the past two
literacy levels did not improve at all in the 10 years decades while survival hardly improved. The report
since the last survey was taken in 1994. The FLEMMS noted that “For many years, the Philippines has had
1994 showed that simple literacy was slightly higher higher enrollment rates at all levels of education than
at 94 percent while functional literacy was basically those of other countries with comparable or even higher
the same at 84 percent. These figures show the poor levels of income. Recently, however, several countries in
outcome of basic education in the Philippines, with the region, notably Malaysia and Vietnam, have gained
children failing to be functionally literate even after an edge over the Philippines even in basic education
several years of schooling. achievement.” The report further revealed that the
Over half (51 percent) of Filipinos have had at out-of-school ratio for primary school-age children
most only elementary education while some 9 percent in the Philippines was worse than in Indonesia and
have not attended school at all. Only 34.7 percent of Vietnam.2

2
Dumlao, Doris. “More RP children dropping out of school, says ADB.” Philippine Daily Inquirer, August 16, 2006, Page A1.

SOCIAL WATCH PHILIPPINES 23

Missing Targets: An alternative MDG midterm report

Unesco’s Global from the government’s midterm report. It presents the

Monitoring Report probability of meeting the MDG targets related to
for 2007 generated education (Goals 2 and 3).
the EFA Develop-
ment Index or EDI

Ratio of girls to 100

Ratio of girls to 100

boys in elementary
Elementary cohort

boys in secondary
participation rate

survival rate
for 125 countries.

Elementary
The index is used
Region
to gauge the overall
accomplishment of
countries in terms Incomplete
CAR data Low Low No data
of meeting the EFA
I Medium Medium Medium High
goals. It is a com- II Low Low Low No data
posite measure based III Low Medium No data No data
on enrollment ratio, IV-A Low Medium Low High
IV-B No data High No data No data
adult literacy rate, V Low Medium High No data
EFA gender-specific index and survival rate up to VI Low Low No data No data
grade 5. Of those surveyed, 47 countries had high EDI VII Low Low No data High
marks (.95-1.00); 49 countries including the Philip- VIII High Low Low Low
IX Medium Medium No data No data
pines had medium EDI (.80-.95); and 29 countries X Low Low Low Low
had low EDI. XI No data High No Baseline No Baseline
The Philippines ranked 75th, falling behind most XII No Baseline No Baseline No baseline No Baseline
Asian countries such as China, Malaysia, Indonesia and CARAGA Low Low No data No data
ARMM High Low No data No data
Vietnam. In terms of education quality, using survival NCR High High No data No data
rate as proxy indicator, the Philippines ranked 101st Mid Term MDG Report. NEDA, August 2007.
of 125 countries. At this level, it fared no better than
some of the poorest countries in Asia and Africa such Regional disparity in terms of school participation
as Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and Myanmar.3 as measured by NER is quite modest, compared to the
The deteriorating state of Philippine education wide disparity recorded in terms of survival and comple-
may also be seen in its poor rating in international com- tion rates. Cohort survival rate shows greater variation
petitive tests. The 2003 Third International Mathemat- across provinces, ranging from a high of 86.83 percent
ics and Science Study (TIMSS) participated in by 45 (Region 1) to a low of 36.2 percent (ARMM). The
countries ranked the Philippines 41st in mathematics regional disparity in terms of completion rate was also
and 42nd in science. The country trails the Asian coun- wide, ranging from a high of 85.48 percent (Region 1)
tries that participated in the 2003 TIMMS, including to a low of 34.76 percent (ARMM).
Malaysia and Indonesia. The regional performance figures are consistent
when one looks at the overall accomplishment in EFA
Regional and provincial trends by provinces. For this report, AER applied and gener-
The midterm report on the MDG presents the re- ated the corresponding provincial EFA Development
gional education statistics, showing the uneven progress Index or EDI as presented in the table below. The
and wide disparities in performance across the different index is based on the same indicators used by Unesco
regions. The report noted that only the National Capital in computing the country EDI.
Region, Central Luzon and Calabarzon have a good The table below presents the 15 provinces with
chance of meeting the education targets. The rest of the the highest and lowest EDI values. As expected,
country lags behind, particularly the poor regions of Central Luzon, Calabarzon and Ilocos Norte domi-
Mindanao and the Visayas.4 The table below is culled nated the top- performing provinces as measured by

UNESCO. Strong Foundations: Early Childhood Care and Education (Global Monitoring Report 2007). Paris: UNESCO Publishing, 2007.
3

National Economic Development Authority (NEDA). Philippines Midterm Progress Report on the Millennium Development Goals. October, 2007.
4

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 Missing Targets: An alternative MDG midterm report

EFA Development Index (EDI) by Province

(These figures are still subject to integrity and validation checks) TheThe UNESCOsEFA
UNESCOs EFAScorecard
Scorecard
Top Provinces UK,Slovenia, Finland
0.99
Rank Province EDI Italy, Greece, Spain

1 Batanes 0.922 0.95 Bulgaria, Portugal

Batanes
2 Bataan 0.903 Bataan Indonesia
Pangasinan 0.90 Viet Nam
3 Pangasinan 0.897 Philippines
Philippines
Tarlac
4 Siquijor 0.878 Batangas 0.85
5 Ilocos Norte 0.874
6 Tarlac 0.871 Masbate 0.80 Cambodia
7 Zambales 0.871 Sultan Kudarat Lao PDR
0.75
8 Ilocos Sur 0.869 Bangladesh
Malawi
9 Rizal 0.866 Ifugao 0.70
Eq. Guinea
Maguindanao Rwanda
10 Abra 0.862 Ghana
11 Nueva Ecija 0.862 Sulu 0.65 Nepal

12 Guimaras 0.861
13 Pampanga 0.859 Source: Action for Economic Reforms (AER). Basic Data culled from Unesco
14 Batangas 0.854 Global Monitoring Report 2007, DepEd Basic Education Information System
and National Statistics Office.
15 La Union 0.854
Bottom Provinces
performance of provinces with the lowest EDI is com-
Rank Province EDI
61 Zamboanga del Sur 0.776
parable to some of the poorest developing countries.
62 Kalinga 0.776
63 Agusan del Sur 0.774 Education and Poverty
64 Negros Occidental 0.773 Numerous studies have noted the strong link of
65 Basilan 0.772 income and poverty to education performance. The
66 Negros Oriental 0.767 poor have less access to education, lower school life
67 Bukidnon 0.761 expectancy and are more likely to drop out of school.
68 Sultan Kudarat 0.761 The lack of education, on the other hand, tends to
69 Western Samar 0.755 perpetuate and regenerate poverty.
70 Sarangani 0.751
The graph below presents the GNP per Capita
71 Davao del Sur 0.718
72 Lanao del Norte 0.714
Income (in log values) and the EDI scores of develop-
73 Ifugao 0.712 ing countries, indicating a highly significant correlation
74 Maguindanao 0.698
75 Sulu 0.654 Scattergram of EFA Development
Source: Action for Economic Reforms (AER). Basic Data culled from Unesco Index (EDI) and GNP Per Capita (Log Values)
Global Monitoring Report 2007, DepEd Basic Education Information System of Developing Countries
and National Statistics Office Census 2000 and FLEMMS 2003
1.0
the EDI. It is also significant to note that the small
island provinces of Batanes and Siquijor are doing .9
exceptionally well. These findings are consistent with .8
other indices, specifically AER’s Quality of Life Index
EDI

.7
and the Human Development Index for Philippine
provinces. .6
On the other hand, Mindanao provinces dominate .5
the bottom performers—a group that also included
some provinces in CAR, Eastern Visayas and the Ne- .4
1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5
gros provinces. LOGGNP
It is important to note that while our top provinces Source: Action for Economic Reforms (AER). Basic Data culled from Unesco
are ranked among the best in the world, the education Global Monitoring Report 2007.

SOCIAL WATCH PHILIPPINES 25

Missing Targets: An alternative MDG midterm report

between income level and education performance. Such an approach raises the likelihood of accelerating
Thus, poor countries tend to have lower EDI scores the realization of MDG targets.
while the rich tend to score high. This observation is validated when one compares
The same pattern is observed in the Philippines. the EDI scores and poverty incidence of provinces.
The government’s midterm report on the MDG “noted The graph below shows the strong correlation between
that participation rates in primary education by region EDI scores and poverty incidence. That means the
correlate inversely with the incidence rates for food and poor- performing provinces manifest higher incidence
overall poverty.” The same report also noted that regions of poverty. On the other hand, provinces with higher
with low poverty incidence tend to have high cohort EDI scores show lower incidence of poverty.
survival and completion rates and low dropout rates.
It is interesting to note that participation rates in Poverty and Education
primary education by region are inversely correlated Performance (EDI) By Province
with the incidence rates for food and overall poverty. 0.950
The regions with highest participation rates showed 0.900
the lowest poverty incidence rates, namely, the NCR,
0.850
Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon and
Calabarzon. Accordingly, these five regions had the 0.800
highest cohort survival rates and lowest dropout rates. EDI 2005
0.750
The observed correlations among these variables sug-
0.700
gest that investment in primary education is promising
for poverty reduction. The above correlations support 0.650
the importance of adopting progressive approaches in
0.600
fighting poverty and investing in primary education. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
LOGGNP

Source: Action for Economic Reforms (AER). Basic Data culled from Unesco
Global Monitoring Report 2007, DepEd Basic Education Information System and
National Statistics Office Census 2000 and FLEMMS 2003

The financing gap

The huge and increasing resource gap in basic
education partly explains the low performance and
deteriorating quality of education in the Philip-
pines.
Enrollment in basic education had been growing
at an average of over 2.5 percent annually, a rate that is
higher than the country’s population growth rate. The
education budget, on the other hand, had been growing
at a slower rate of about 2 percent annually in real terms.
On a real per capita basis, therefore, the allocation per
pupil has actually been declining since 1997. In fact,
the current per pupil expenditure is roughly at the same
level as it was some 25 years back.
Clearly, the Philippines has been underinvesting
in basic education. In 1997, national expenditure on
basic education was 3.2 percent of GDP. This went
down to 2.5 percent by 2001 and further down to 2.1
percent by 2005. Similarly, per-capita expenditure on
basic education in real terms declined from P374 in

26 SOCIAL WATCH PHILIPPINES

 Missing Targets: An alternative MDG midterm report

1997 to P339 in 2001, and to P282 by 2005 based the resource gap for basic education. For 2007, the gov-
on 1985 prices.5 ernment allocated P135.5 billion for basic education,
The share of basic education has also been shrink- an amount that is less than half of what was allocated
ing. In 1995, the percentage share of basic education in for debt service. As in previous years, debt service gets
the national budget was 12.17 percent. This peaked in the biggest share of the national budget, taking up a
1998 at 15.96 percent of the national budget but has third of the entire budget. The huge allocation for debt
consistently declined since then. By 2007, the share of servicing effectively shifts much needed resources away
basic education in the national budget was down to from priority basic services.
only 11.9 percent. International benchmarks set the Certainly, the current level of expenditure is low
desirable level of education expenditure at 6 percent of and falls short of the requirements for quality education.
GDP and 20 percent of total public expenditure. It places the Philippines among the lowest spenders on
A study on the financing requirements to meet education in Southeast Asia and the rest of the world.
the MDG targets computed the resource gap for basic While most Asian countries are taking concrete steps to
education for 2007-15 at P357 billion or about P40 increase real spending on education in comparison to
billion per year.6 The national budget for fiscal year the size of their economies, the Philippines is moving
2007 shows that the country is nowhere near in closing back and taking the other direction. Unless expenditure

Spending Level Sgrinking Piece of the Pie

Declining Per Pupil Spending Proposed 2008 Budget
Education Budget increasing only by 2% per year while
Enrolment rate has been growing at 2.5% per year.
Real Per Pupil Expenditure on Basic Education

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

Education spending must grow faster than the combined effect

of inflation and population growth

Spending Level
International Comparison
The spending level of the Philippines is low compared
to actual requirements and compared with spendings
of other countries/regions.

Manasan, Rosario (2007) Financing the Millennium Development Goals: The Philippines, Final Report. http://dirp4.pids.gov.ph/ris/dps/pidsdps0706.pdf
5

The computation is based on a high cost and MTPDP GDP assumption.

6

SOCIAL WATCH PHILIPPINES 27

Missing Targets: An alternative MDG midterm report

on basic education is increased to more respectable quality education. They are constantly at risk of falling
levels, the country will surely miss its MDG targets out of the school system.
on education. 4) EFFICIENCY- Poorly-designed programs, poor
targeting and misplaced priorities are creating a lot of
Issues and Challenges inefficiencies and wastage in the educational system.
In summary, education indicators consistently Years of neglect, underinvestment and mismanage-
point to the low and deteriorating performance of ment have set back the education sector by at least a
the education sector in terms of access, quality, lit- generation. Successive governments have failed to de-
eracy and equity. Dropout rates remain alarmingly cisively address these problems and reverse the historic
high and access is not equitable; quality is poor and decline of education in the Philippines. The current
declining; resources are too little; and the system is administration under President Arroyo fares no better
badly managed. and has, in fact, done worse things which pushed the
educational system deeper into crisis. It is apparent that
Key Issues the current administration has neither the competence
1) ACCESS – The dramatic rise in school drop- nor the political will to carry out meaningful reforms
outs, the low survival and completion rates and the in education. Basically, it operates on expediency,
alarming increase of out-of-school children highlights preferring quick-fix solutions, and is preoccupied with
the deteriorating state of education in the country to- survival and legacy concerns.
day. This trend indicates a clear reversal in the increasing Immediate action must be done to improve access,
access to basic education achieved over the past two reach out to the unserved and improve the quality of
decades (1980s and 1990s). education. Substantive reforms must be undertaken
2) QUALITY – The poor quality of education to decisively address the financing gap and to improve
and its outcome are reflected in the low achievement the governance of basic education. Institutions must be
levels of students, the poor quality of teaching and the reformed to ensure transparency, participation and ac-
perennial shortages in key inputs, specifically teachers, countability. Finally, a clear and coherent framework for
infrastructure and instructional materials. education must be set—a framework that is premised
3) EQUITY – The poor, malnourished and disad- on education not simply as a development target, but
vantaged children are being bypassed and deprived of as a fundamental right of all Filipinos. n

28 SOCIAL WATCH PHILIPPINES