Rid of the Lack of Education
Salif Shieka Hapza Abdua Kusain
Philippines constantly strive for
change. We strive to give the country a better stand in the world, thus, the modernization.
However, Philippines wasn’t always this way. According to the history books, we
were colonized by different countries like the Spaniards, Americans and the
Japanese, and unfortunately are heavily influenced by them. Because of their
heavy influence on us, from the government down to our culture, we grew up not
from our own practices and culture, but from the culture that we picked up from
our colonizers. Even our educational system was based from our colonizers. Our
education system before was based on the Spaniards teachings, and now is
heavily based on the US. We were trained to think that education is just as
valuable as gold. But as the years passed, due to modernization, Filipinos
became greedy for quality education and on the downside, expensive school fees.
Most schools in the Philippines have expensive school fees, especially in prestigious
private schools.
According
to the Philstar article, Cause and effect;
The rising costs of education by Carlo S. Lorencia, 2014, CHED Memorandum Order 3 of 2012 requires HEIs to give the
70 percent of the increase to the employees' needs. The other 20 percent is allocated for the improvement, upgrading,
acquisition of school facilities and equipment. The said percentage also spends
for the implementation of faculty development programs and trainings and
expansion of student services. While the remaining 10 percent is intended for
the return of investment especially for institutions that are stock
corporations.
A big portion of the
student’s payments go directly to the faculty and staff of a school along with the
improvement of the school’s facilities. Schools feel the need to improve
facilities and hire better faculty and staff because of their belief that this
will give the students better education. Unfortunately, families struggle to
pay for the school fees, because some schools increase their tuition yearly. And
due to the expensive bills in school, some parents have a hard time in
providing their children quality education and because of this, the percentage
on the lack of education on the Filipino children increased. Not only that, the
Philippines is currently facing a grave problem that for several years, the government
have a hard time solving, poverty.
Poverty has become a rising issue
in the Philippines for the past few years and until now, the government still
struggle to solve it. Families struggle to provide education for their children
because of poverty, most especially in the provinces of the Philippines. Since
parents cannot give the education that the children need, they end up letting their
children work at an early age in order to provide for their families. Majority
of the schools in the provinces of the Philippines have poor facilities that give
the teachers a harder time to teach the children well. Poverty doesn’t just
affect the children – the teachers’ livelihoods inevitably suffer. Sadly, many
teachers are choosing to move abroad, after being tempted by higher salaries.
Inevitably, it’s the children that suffer (Meron, 2014)
Despite the poverty that the country
is currently experiencing, the people still value education. And the people
value the future of the society which is the youth. Children need education in
order to attain the betterment of the country in the future, therefore the
government has issued the K-12 Law.
In the Section 2. Declaration of Policy of the Republic Act No. 10533, has stated
that:
“For this purpose, the State
shall create a functional basic education system that will develop productive
and responsible citizens equipped with the essential competencies, skills and
values for both life-long learning and employment. In order to achieve this,
the State shall:
(a) Give every student an opportunity to receive quality
education that is globally competitive based on a pedagogically sound
curriculum that is at par with international standards;
(b) Broaden the goals of high school education for college
preparation, vocational and technical career opportunities as well as creative
arts, sports and entrepreneurial employment in a rapidly changing and
increasingly globalized environment; and
(c) Make education learner-oriented and responsive to the
needs, cognitive and cultural capacity, the circumstances and diversity of
learners, schools and communities through the appropriate languages of teaching
and learning, including mother tongue as a learning resource.”
It is also stated in the Section
5. Curriculum Development. “To ensure college readiness and to avoid remedial and duplication of basic education subjects, the DepED shall coordinate with the CHED and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA)."
With the help of the K to 12 Curriculum, this gave students an opportunity to find jobs despite not going to college. The government has also ensured to support the students who choose not to pursue college and provide them jobs.
The Universal Access to Quality
Tertiary Education Act was also issued recently that provides college students
free tuition in government schools. In the Section 2. Declaration of Policy of the Republic Act No. 10931 stated that:
“Therefore, the State shall take
appropriate steps to make such education accessible to all.
Likewise, the State hereby recognizes the complementary roles
of public and private higher education institutions and technical-vocational
institutions in the educational system and the invaluable contribution that the
private tertiary schools have made and will make to education. For these
intents, the State shall:
(a) Provide adequate funding and
such other mechanisms to increase the participation rate among all
socioeconomic classes in tertiary education;
(b) Provide all Filipinos with
equal opportunity to quality tertiary education in both the private and public
educational institutions;
(c) Give priority to students who
are academically able and who come from poor families;
(d) Ensure the optimized utilization
of government resources in education;
(e) Provide adequate guidance and
incentives in channeling young Filipinos in their career choices and towards
the proper development and utilization of human resources; and
(f) Recognize the complementary
roles of public and private institutions in tertiary educational system.
This has given the students who still
wish to pursue college the opportunity to study without worrying to pay for the
expensive school bills of the school.
These laws have changed the ways
of the education system in the Philippines and have therefore, lessen the lack
of education of the country. These laws have also opened more doors of opportunity
of the children of the Philippines. With these laws, children will be able to study freely without having to worry about their life status. The government has opened multiple opportunities for the people.
References:
http://www.truevolunteer.org/how-poverty-affects-education-in-the-philippines/#.XE2hulwzbIU
https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2013/05/15/republic-act-no-10533/
