PHILIPPINE EDUCATION: ISSUES AND
CONCERNS
Let us first identify the important issues affecting the Philippine educational
system. The first issue is the role of education in national development. Several
researchers had delved into the different components affecting the educational system,
more specifically, whether it can solve the multifarious problems in society. Education
has been looked into as the means of alleviating poverty, decreasing criminalities,
increasing economic benefits and ultimately uplifting the standard of living of the Filipino
masses. With these in mind, the government on its part has been continuously investing
so much resource into the education sector. However, with the complexity of
educational issues, solutions are far from reality. Allied with this issue is the preparation
of our students from the basic education up to tertiary level. The questions of how well
are the schools equipped and able to train the pupils under their care are crucial. It is a
sad reality that only seven out of ten pupils who enroll in Grade 1 finish the elementary
curriculum, and from the seven who continue to secondary, only 3 are able to complete
the curriculum. From these three only one can complete the tertiary education. Based
on this scenario, how can we expect our students to help in nation building when they
do not have the necessary skills and trainings? Reality is that, formal education has not
achieved what it was supposed to achieve. Our schools right now are in a quandary on
how to keep children in school, with the increasing rate of drop outs. The functional
literacy of the Filipinos is at its minimum reflecting the sad state of education. There are
rampant problems of child labor, where children who are supposed to be in the
classroom are working to help augment family income. Unemployment rate is rising
every year as more students graduate from colleges and universities, who cannot be
accommodated by the labor market. Underemployment is the name of the game since
professionals are forced to accept employment far from their areas of specialization and
training because they need to work and earn for their families. The gap between the few
who are rich and the majority who are poor is becoming wider and bigger. Now what
has education got to do with this? If experts claimed that education is an instrument for
national development, where does the problem lie? Another important issue confronting
the educational system is the curriculum that is not responsive to the basic needs of the
country. Let us reflect on the components of the present curriculum, specifically in the
basic education. Our elementary pupils are required to have nine to ten subjects
competing for time allocations. More time is allotted for subjects like English, Science
and Mathematics with other subjects like health, music, values education, civics
integrated into the Makabayan curriculum. Added to this are enrichment subjects like
Computer literacy, Ethics among others (especially in the private schools). This reflects
the priorities of the government in educating our young people. It is a reality that a grade
1 pupil carries so many books to school (wondering whether all these materials are
actually read in the class). This overloaded curriculum results to difficulty in knowledge
and skills absorption among our pupils. With this practice how can we expect our young
people to develop love of country, patriotism, and other nationalistic traits, when their
concepts of these are not properly taught? Worse, many pupils drop out of school
before they reach the sixth grade because of poverty, thus increasing their chances of
losing the incipient literacy acquired, and therefore, forfeit the privilege of developing
patriotic and nationalistic attitudes. This sad state, proliferate the cycle of poverty that
the Filipino masses experience. With the constant change in the basic education
curriculum, teachers need to upgrade themselves in order that they can properly
implement these changes. Upgrading requires attendance to trainings, seminars,
conferences and even enrollment in graduate education. But with the present conditions
of the teachers in the public schools only very few can afford this, unless government
intervenes and provide upgrading activities for free.
Prepared by:
Ivy Jean A. Feliciano
