Education
Does education in the Philippines fulfill the pursuit of knowledge and development? Does it continue to provide a vehicle by which our people can improve our nation?
Filipino heroes like Jose Rizal emphasize the importance of educating the youth, as they are the hope of the nation. True enough, this is a value that is imparted in a majority of the Filipinos who believe that educational attainment is the single most valuable asset that can be inherited by each generation from their parents.
However, due to lack of accessibility of “quality education”, most Filipinos are disheartened and fail to pursue their education, and instead take any means and opportunity to earn any form of living.
I personally believe that for any nation to be able to achieve any form of long-term solution to the poverty that is so absurdly rampant in our country, proper education of the masses is imperative. I do not mean the type that will teach them vocational courses so that they may become skilled individuals, but to impart unto them the same opportunity for a wider breadth of knowledge that, most usually, only the elite are afforded.
The trouble with Philippine education is that while the public school system does indeed exist, the quality of the education provided to the students is far less than that given to the privileged that can afford private schooling.
I want to emphasize here two important points: the disparity in the quality of education between private and public schools, and the ability of the great majority of the population to afford a quality education.
“To leave children in the care of the public school system, in the view of many parents today, is to automatically destroy their chances of entering a good university.” (When Parents Graduate, PDI, April 25, 1999)
Education is a right and a public good that the government should provide to its constituents. This is apparently not the case in the Philippines, where the government continually provides lackluster facilities and underpays its faculty and staff, and annually cuts down the budget allocated to education. It does this on the notion that the private sector should be the one to act to become the “movers of the nation”. This completely contradicts the role of the government in this matter and violates the right of the people who are far less privileged to have the opportunity to pursue an education of (at least) a considerable amount of quality.
Take the case of the University of the Philippines for example. Due to the high standards in order to be accepted into the university, few are accepted. Among those few, what percentage of the students would have come from a private school, and from a public school? Chances are that a majority of the students would have come from some private school (whether well-recognized or not), and the minority from some public school. Among that minority, a percentage of the accepted students will choose not to pursue their education in UP for the reason that they cannot afford the tuition (due to the increase in TOFI) and/or perhaps they cannot afford the living costs that come with pursuing a higher education.
Next, if and when students are able to afford the privilege of an education (whether at a premier university or not), are they being taught to be members of the labor force, or to be the future leaders of the country? Do they pursue their collegiate diploma with the ambition of greatness in contribution to society, or for the mere achievement of attaining a formal education and then only to settle for low-paying jobs or occupations abroad?
I have met plenty of individuals in the work field whom have graduated with degrees in engineering, computer science, political science, and criminology, to name a few, who currently work as housekeepers, and whose great ambition—after striving so hard to complete their education—is to become housekeepers aboard a cruise ship that will take them abroad. That’s it. They have worked hard. Their parents have worked hard. Only for them to settle to become the members of the “low” end of the labor force; not only that, but to become members of the labor force of an entirely different country and society. Great. This is what our education system is producing.
This poses an issue of empowerment among the masses. If and when they are able to complete their formal education, will they be empowered enough to pursue what they studied for? Or does their pursuit of knowledge and education stop after graduation? Are they left to foster an apathetic attitude towards our nation? Are they led to believe that they are capable of greatness, or are they kept to believe that they are destined to remain impoverished and marginalized?
I am a product of a private school education that has taught me that I am a capable agent of change. I am a product of a private school education that has equipped me with the necessary tools and MINDSET that have prepared me for the rigorous academic environment and training of the University of the Philippines. I know that I can contribute in the creation of nationhood in our country, but how many others are there like me whom are prepared to do the same thing?
Does the general education in the Philippines fulfill the pursuit of knowledge and development? Perhaps. Does it continue to provide a vehicle by which our people can improve our nation? Somewhat.
The government, from my perspective, does not seem to move remedy this. The government, from my perspective, seems to rely on public-private partnerships; or actually more on just private initiatives. Now, my question is: How does the government plan to rely on private initiatives, when the very same private sector that it relies on is the same private sector that seeks to keep its wealth intact and its (cheap) labor force in existence?
