Bulatlat

Consistent with its policies of deregulation and privatization, and limiting government spending, the Macapagal-Arroyo administration has been reducing its budget for education leading to the deterioration of the educational system and the decreasing access of the poor to education.  And yet it is wondering why more and more people, including college graduates are not able to get jobs?

BY BENJIE OLIVEROS
ANALYSIS
Bulatlat
Vol. VII, No. 27, August 12-18, 2007

Recent reports indicated that the Philippines is losing its competitive edge in employment, its being one of the top English speaking countries in Southeast Asia.  Another report stated that only a fraction of the demand for call center agents is being filled up as only three to five percent of college graduates are able to pass the requirements, mainly the ability to speak English with the proper accent such as “‘ap-el” and not “epol.”  The Arroyo government’s response to this problem is to set-up training centers under the TESDA or the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.

But the problem is deeper than the deterioration in the ability of the ordinary Filipino to speak English.  And the problem is much worse than our inability to fill in the demand for call center agents.  The problem is rooted in the continuing deterioration of the country’s educational system, which is made worse by the deregulation and privatization policies of the Macapagal-Arroyo administration.

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) came up with a very good paper issued last July 20, 2007 – which unfortunately has gone unnoticed by the Arroyo government and even the media –  entitled “The Arroyo years: towards a lost decade for education?”  The paper was issued through its secretary-general Ms. France Castro, a true-blooded public school teacher who rose from the ranks starting as a substitute teacher and now a Master Teacher 2.  

ACT came up with indicators, based on data from the Department of Education (DepEd), to show that the Macapagal-Arroyo administration has failed miserably in its obligation to provide access to universal quality education. It stated that the Arroyo years have been characterized by declining enrolments, reduced completion rates, and dramatic increases in the number of drop-outs and out-of-school children.

Indicators

ACT data showed a slowing down in the growth in enrolment in basic education.  From a rate of 1.98 percent from 1995-2002, the growth in enrolment slowed down to an average of 0.97 percent. As it is, the 1.98 percent growth is already lagging behind the 2.3 percent population growth.  The further slowing down in enrolment growth rates means that more and more children are not able to attend school.  

 And not only that, the drop-out rate is also increasing.  In 2003, 66 out of 100 Grade 1 students graduate from elementary.  In 2006, only 56 are able to complete elementary school.  In 2001, 70 out of every 100 first year high school students complete their four years in high school.  In 2006, this dropped to 54 out of every 100.  

A result of the slowing down in enrolment rates and the worsening drop-out rates is the increase in the number of out-of-school children.  In 2001, there were approximately 1.87 million out-of-school children with ages from 6-15 years old.  In a matter of four years, in 2005, the number of out-of-school children has reached a staggering 3.1 million.

And the quality of education is still way below standard.  Achievement rates of elementary and high school students in National Achievement Tests remain far below the passing rate of 75 percent.

The achievement rates for elementary students has slightly improved from school year (SY) 2000-2001 to SY 2005-2006 but are still far below the passing rate: 53.66 percent in Math, 46.77 in Science, 54.05 in English, 58.12 in Hekasi (Social Sciences), and 60.68 in Filipino.

The achievement rates for secondary students are worse and have even worsened during the same period.  The current rates are 47.82 percent in Math, 37.98 in Science, 47.73 percent in English, 40.51 percent in Filipino, and 47.62 percent in Araling Panlipunan (Social Sciences).

It is then not surprising that the Philippines ranked 41st in Science and 42nd in Mathematics from among 45 countries by the Trends in International Math and Science Survey.

Shortages

Notwithstanding the tirade by Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo against the officer-in-charge of the Department of Education in June, 2006, the shortages in classrooms, seats, textbooks, and teachers have worsened.   The shortage of 8,443 classrooms during SY 2001-2002 worsened to 57,930 during SY 2005-2006.  The lack in 2,108,173 seats during SY 2001-2002 increased to 3.48 million during SY 2005-2006. The shortage of 24.22 million textbooks during SY 2003-2004 went up to 34.7 million the next school year.  And the 37,932 shortage in teachers during SY 2001-2002 worsened to 49,699 during SY 2005-2006.

The result is overcrowded classrooms exceeding 60 students per class; a severe shortage in learning materials; shorter hours for classes and teacher-student interaction; heavy teaching loads for harassed and underpaid teachers; and an environment not at all conducive to learning, not to mention the sore lack in teacher training.  

Entry-level (Teacher 1) pay for teachers is at P10, 933 ($239 at an exchange rate of $1=P45.74), way below the P17, 366 ($379) monthly living wage set by the National Wages and Productivity Commission. Worse, public school teachers are deprived of their benefits because it is based on savings by the DepEd.  And with the decreasing budget for education, savings are hard to come by.

Decreasing budget

The shortages and deterioration in the quality of education can be attributed to the decrease in the budget for education being allocated by the Macapagal-Arroyo administration. The government has been religiously implementing the “limited or zero growth” in government spending recommended by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank to tame the government deficit and ensure debt payments in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis.  This was made worse by the fiscal crisis which hit the Arroyo government in 2002. Since then, the government has drastically cut its spending.

According to the Congressional Budget and Planning Office, “the average annual growth rate of the DepEd’s budget in real terms from 2001-2006 has been negative 3.5 percent.”  It also pointed out that “in terms of share of the national budget, (the 2007) DepEd budget represents one of the lowest at 11.96 percent since 1995.”

The decrease in budget allocation also affects access to basic and secondary education.  Public schools are not being given budgets for Maintenance, Operating, and Other Expenses (MOOE) such as repairs and purchases of furniture, fixtures and equipment, and even in paying for the salaries of maintenance personnel.  Thus, this is being shouldered by parents in the form of fees and donations.  

Tertiary education

If the Macapagal-Arroyo administration has been remiss in its obligation to provide basic and secondary education to the Filipino youth, it has totally turned its back in providing access to tertiary education.  Consistent with its deregulation and privatization thrusts, it has been reducing its allocation for state universities and colleges forcing the latter to increase its tuition and other fees.  

The University of the Philippines implemented a 300 percent increase in its tuition from P300 ($6.55) per unit to P1, 000 ($21.86) per unit. Thus, the average tuition a UP student pays increased from P6, 000 to P20, 000 ($218 to $437) per semester. Already, UP has been experiencing an increase in its no-show rate which reflects the percentage of passers of the UP College Admission Test (UPCAT) who did not enrol. As it is, students from public schools, except those from science high schools and pilot classes, are at a disadvantage because of the competitive entrance exams considering the deteriorating quality of public school education.  With the new tuition rates, more and more students from the poor majority who passed the UPCAT, would not be able to enrol at UP.

If UP and other state colleges and universities are becoming inaccessible, much more are the private schools.  The DepEd has already rescinded its memorandum limiting automatic tuition increases to the annual inflation rate.

Poverty as the root cause

The decreasing government allocation for education is not the sole reason, and the only accountability of the Macapagal-Arroyo administration, for its failure to provide access to education to majority of the Filipino people. Its economic policies of liberalization, deregulation, and privatization which results in spikes in prices and rates of basic goods, services, and utilities, and increasing unemployment and underemployment leading to the worsening of the poverty situation is the biggest reason for the decreasing enrolment rates and increasing drop-out rates.    

With around 65 million Filipinos or about 80 percent of the population trying to survive on P96 ($2) or less per day, how can a family afford the school uniforms, the transportation to and from school, the expenses for school supplies and projects, the miscellaneous expenses, and the food for the studying sibling?  More than this, with the worsening unemployment problem and poverty situation, each member of the family is being expected to contribute to the family income. Most, if not all, out-of-school children are on the streets begging, selling cigarettes, candies, garlands, and assorted foodstuffs or things, or doing odd jobs.  

The wrong solution

The provision of more training centers by TESDA is not only a wrong solution, it is at best a futile effort.  More and more college graduates are not being able to get jobs.  Much less are the chances of those who have only undergone vocational training.  

The Marcos administration, during the 1970s has also tried the same approach.  It instituted the National College Entrance Examinations (NCEE) to screen those who could enter college and to promote vocational training.  It established the National Manpower Youth Council with the very same functions that TESDA has today.

It geared the educational system towards supplying cheap labor to multinational corporations. It also promoted a labor export policy supposedly as a temporary measure to mitigate the unemployment problem.

When all things failed, it tightened its grip to power and tried to suppress the growing discontent and intensifying protests by attacking the people and violating human rights with impunity.  

Don’t all these sound familiar? Don’t you feel that we are in the same situation all over again, only it has become worse?  Well, the Macapagal-Arroyo administration has a lot in common with the Marcos dictatorship, not only in terms of policies but it is also approximating the human rights record and the corruption scandals of the Marcoses.  No wonder it seems so easy for them to strike a deal with the Marcos family. But if the Macapagal-Arroyo administration persists in pursuing the same path as the Marcos dictatorship, it will also share its fate. Bulatlat