Joint General Membership Meeting
The Business of Education

3 September 2008 – More than 11.6 million Filipinos from 6 to 24 years old are out of school and considered illiterate, and there is no guarantee that those who are in school are getting quality education. This was the grim picture shared by Education Secretary Jesli Lapus and former education secretary Edilberto de Jesus during the joint membership meeting of the Makati Business Club, Management Association of the Philippines, and Philippine Business for Education on 3 September 2008 at the Hotel InterContinental Manila.

Quality and Equity

With the advent of the knowledge economy, achieving quality and equity in education has become a global challenge, according to Edilberto De Jesus. To create a better-educated workforce, many nations now resort to “massification,” or the expansion of access to higher education. But while Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan are posting 70%–82% levels of gross enrollment ratio in higher education, for the Philippines it is about 21% only.

De Jesus stated that some academics and activists are opposing the “commodification” of the country’s education system, for fear that private schools might compromise quality for profit. But the former education secretary said that the engagement of the private sector is necessary to accommodate the growth of the student population and that private providers of educational services have an important role in directly impacting the quality of and equity in education.

The Challenge to Business

While being an education provider is one of the many roles that the business sector can play, De Jesus stressed that it is not the role of business to take over the responsibilities of the government as the main provider of education. As valuable clients and patrons of education, however, business has a “right and obligation to ensure that government does its job in education.” He warned that the government’s failure to do its job poses real quantifiable costs to business.

De Jesus also warned that corporate citizenship programs for education, with contributions amounting to P2 billion per year, might encourage the use of government education funds for other purposes. “A school-feeding program can be converted to a dubious rice distribution scheme, and school voucher program funds can be diverted by politicians,” he said. Thus, he encouraged the business sector to help strengthen civil society groups advocating for the judicious and equitable use of the country’s budget.

Local Challenges

Meanwhile, Sec. Jesli Lapus explained the challenges in the country’s education system and enumerated some of the recent gains that have been made.

The first challenge is the low readiness rate of Grade 1 entrants, which he imputed to the lack of preschool experience and the high cost of private preschool education. He stressed the importance of preschool education and proposed that if the 10-year basic education cycle is extended, he would prefer mandatory preschool instead of adding Grade 7.

The participation rate of children ages 6 to 15 years old also has to be improved. At present, there are 5.6 million unschooled kids in that age bracket. Apart from reaching the unschooled, DepEd aims to retain those who have been insufficiently schooled.

However, budget is a serious constraint to achieving the national education goal. “Despite having the biggest share among the agencies, the DepEd budget pales in comparison with international standards,” said Lapus. In fact, while UNESCO estimates that 6% of the GDP should be allotted to education, Lapus reports that the sector gets barely 3% of GDP.

Reported Gains

The DepEd has been training school administrators and principals to manage their own affairs so that they can assume greater accountability for their respective schools’ performance. In addition, Lapus reports that teachers, especially non-majors in science and math but who are teaching those subjects, are being sent to certificate programs to improve the quality of their teaching. He added that 100,000 teachers have also been trained for digital literacy.

Aside from training programs, Lapus proudly shared the major reforms instituted in the production and delivery of textbooks. The reforms have resulted in greater efficiency and lower prices. He declared that an elementary textbook that cost P76.84 in 1998 dropped to P31.56 in 2007.

Other gains include the reduction of overcrowding in public schools by providing assistance to private schools, enabling the latter to absorb over 600,000 students. Lapus stated that the DepEd’s school feeding program has also increased school attendance from 85% to 95%.

Moving Forward

To attain the goal of “Education for All,” the DepEd aims to continue recognizing and responding to the diverse needs of students, continue building and improving schools, and enhance the teaching learning process by strengthening the skills of the education workforce. Lapus presented the DepEd’s financing proposals to help fund these plans, which includes utilizing 10% of LGUs’ internal revenue allotment, securing 50% of LGUs’ Special Education Fund, and issuing “patriot bonds” via the National Development Company. The education secretary also called for the passing of several legislative proposals, such as the adoption of the 12-year cycle, the amendment of the Magna Carta for teachers, and the institutionalization of the National Career Assessment Examination.

Sec. Lapus noted that while gains have been made, “there is no overnight solution, but we are confident now in saying that we are hitting the right interventions.”
Download Mr. De Jesus’s presentation | Download Sec. Lapus’s presentation

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Jesli A. Lapus

Sec. Lapus has been head of the Department of Education since 2007. Once called the “Champion of Public School Teachers,” he has been advocating for quality education and the recognition of educators since his three-term service in Congress from 1998 to 2007.

Edilberto C. de Jesus

Mr. De Jesus is former education secretary and current University of the Cordilleras president. Prior to heading the DepEd from 2002 to 2004, he was president of the Far Eastern University for seven years. Upon leaving the DepEd in 2004, DJ became the secretariat director of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization.