By Fr. Shay Cullen
There are thousands of bright and high-achieving Filipino students, to the point that special schools have been established to develop their knowledge and talents, equip them with the skills that would help land them a good job, and contribute to the development of the nation. Filipino students are naturally good and intelligent, and the Philippines could attain greater moral and educational standards and offer better employment if these students could have opportunities to access high-quality education that is their right but is available to only too few people.
The quality of teaching in Philippine education is at a new low because of the huge number of students crammed into small, badly ventilated and poorly lighted classrooms. There are 50 students per classroom on average, and they suffer from the lack of quality school buildings and educational facilities. The failure in attaining high educational standards is due to ineffective teaching by unmotivated and underpaid teachers. There is a serious lack of highly skilled teachers who are knowledgeable about the content of their subjects and capable of motivating students to reach higher standards and achieve more. Many teachers are frequently absent and suffer no consequences for it. Others are focused on illegal fundraising from students and parents. The Department of Education is also severely underfunded, and this is seen in the dire results of some studies.
According to a 2019 World Bank report, as many as 90 percent of Filipino students are unable to reach a minimum proficiency level at the end of their elementary education, as shown by data from Grade 5 students in the report. In another report, the Program for International Student Assessment indicated that Filipino students have consistently performed poorly, with low rankings in reading comprehension, mathematics and science. They seriously lacked “skills like reading, writing, numeracy and problem-solving,” it said. The research shows that about 91 percent of Filipino children cannot understand simple texts by the time they reach 10 years old.
Just how low the Philippine educational system ranks? Out of the 139 countries ranked by the Global Competitiveness Report for education, the Philippines is No. 69, and its placement is sinking lower year after year. It is now rated the lowest among the six Southeast Asian nations in the report. The Philippines also has one of the lowest educational budgets in Asia. Morally corrupt bureaucrats allocate educational funds to enrich themselves.
There are various forms of poverty in the Philippines: in food, intellectual poverty, social poverty, moral poverty. Various reports say Filipino children suffer from all of them, but perhaps the most widespread are hunger and learning poverty. Food poverty is particularly damaging to them. Feeding programs are inadequate in many schools, especially remote ones, due to the corrupt practices of some officials and even teachers. There is no apparent supervision or oversight in implementing these programs or upholding high educational standards. Every child is “moved up,” regardless of their ability to read or write, or comprehend what they read. Many children drop out of school due to poverty and hunger, and also boredom because of inadequate teaching.
Across the Philippines, poverty causes hundreds of thousands of children to go hungry. Many drop out of school and live on the streets with severe literacy problems. It is estimated that 13.1 percent — 2.9 million — of Filipino children are estimated to be hungry every day, and 18 percent — 2 million — are considered severely “food poor,” said Albert Muyot, chief executive officer of Save the Children Philippines.
The Food and Agriculture Organization reported in 2023 that almost 45 percent of the Philippine population faced moderate or severe food insecurity. It also said 29 percent of children suffered from stunted growth. Being deprived of nutritious food caused this, affecting their brain development and learning abilities.
Besides hunger keeping Filipino children out of school, a very low standard of education among them is seen in government-mandated day care centers for children 5 and younger. From there, they move up to elementary. Republic Act 8980, or the Early Childhood Care and Development Act, says local governments are responsible for operating these day care centers.
There are approximately 30 day care centers in each large municipality, and research shows that moving-up ceremonies for toddlers are the source of moneymaking events. In one example in Zambales, the parents of about 60 children 5 and younger have a “moving up” day, a kind of graduation or recognition ceremony. Each child’s family, poor or not, has to pay P580 for the child’s participation.
Instead of them each getting a certificate, the children are made to wear a special rented “toga,” and have a photo package worth P230 and a moving-up fee of P350. Parents have to pay or be shamed when their child is excluded from the event. If there are 60 children, more or less, in a day care center holding two sessions, the teacher, and presumably the village, will collect approximately P34,800 from one day care center alone. If there are 31 day care centers, as in one municipality in Zambales, the authorities will collect from the parents a whopping P1,078,800, more or less, for an event lasting only a few hours.
Where that money goes is anyone’s guess. These moneymaking ceremonies are similar in elementary and high schools. Besides, teachers ask parents for contributions to buy items like electric fans, flower pots, curtains, chalk and others. Some parents go into debt or reduce the family’s food intake. All these in the empty hope that their child will get a good education. Sadly, too many can’t afford it, and the child drops out of school to wander in the streets and join gangs and likely become a child in conflict with the law. Are we surprised that the Philippines ranks among the lowest in educational standards in Asia?
