Education reform in the Philippines aims for better quality and more access

PhilippinesEducation
Overview
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The Philippine education system has evolved over hundreds of years of colonial occupation, first
by Spain and then by the US, through martial law and the people’s power revolution that brought
democracy to the sprawling archipelago. The education sector’s development has mirrored the
changes in the country’s administration. Today the focus is on expanding access and ensuring
more Filipinos receive a decent basic education, as a means of reducing poverty and improving
national competitiveness. The World Bank notes that in other countries such initiatives have
brought “large economic benefits”. The K-12 reform was introduced in 2016 and funding was
increased, easing concerns that its implementation would be hindered by limited resources and
winning over new President Rodrigo Duterte, who was initially sceptical about the plan.
Despite these successes and President Duterte’s commitment to socio-economic issues as his
policy priorities, the education system continues to struggle with deep inequalities. Quality also
remains a concern. Addressing these problems will require a continued commitment to increased
funding for education, and an efficient mechanism to ensure the money is spent in the most
effective manner.
System
The Philippines has a vibrant and diverse education system, with the government, assisted by the
private sector, providing a wide range of education from early years up to college and university
across the archipelago. The Department of Education (DepEd) oversees the provision of basic
education. The private sector includes kindergartens, international schools and religious schools.
In 2015/16 there were 14.9m children enrolled at primary school and 6.01m at secondary level.
History
Today’s system has been shaped by the Philippines’ colonial and post-war history. Under the
Spanish, education was largely provided by missionaries and the study of religion was
compulsory, but most Filipinos were not included. It was only in the 19th century that they were
able to attend the universities that had been established two centuries earlier, and it was only
when the US took control of the Philippines in 1898 that consideration was given to non-religious
education, English-language teaching and free primary school education for all.
The country was ill-prepared for the sudden expansion of education and did not have enough
teachers to meet the new demand, so the colonial authorities established a teacher-training
school and brought in 1000 teachers from the US to provide training. An emphasis on vocational
and adult education was introduced in the early 20th century, while bilingual teaching – with
maths, science and literature taught in English – was introduced under Ferdinand Marcos in 1974.
The commitment to a bilingual education and universal access was enshrined in the 1987
constitution.
K-12 Implementation
Three years since the Enhanced Basic Education Act (EBEA, known as the K-12 law) was signed,
the Philippines has finally embarked on its most ground-breaking change to the schooling system
in decades, the K-12 reform.
K-12 extends compulsory schooling to grades 11 and 12, adding two years to secondary school,
and makes secondary education compulsory. Prior to its implementation, the Philippines was the
only country in Asia, and one of only a few in the world, to have a basic education system of just
10 years. The EBEA also mandated kindergarten as the start of compulsory formal education,
while the Kindergarten Act of 2012 made pre-school free. In August 2016, 1.5m Filipino children
attended 11th grade, with senior school students choosing between four tracks through the
system: academic, technical-vocational, sports or the arts. Much of the opposition to the
initiative, which triggered five separate petitions to the Supreme Court, centred on whether the
country’s teachers, schools and administration were in a position to implement the reform.
President Duterte expressed scepticism about the programme before he was elected, but
changed his mind in May 2016 after a delegation from DepEd told him that the change was
necessary, as Filipino students were falling behind their neighbours.
Indeed, increased spending on basic education – including an expanded Alternative Learning
System (ALS) – is a centrepiece of the new president’s 10-point socio-economic agenda. President
Duterte insists that the development of the Philippines’ human capital is a priority of his
administration. Building on existing programmes, the education secretary, Leonor Briones, said
that the Duterte administration’s education policy intends to ensure that the country provides a
quality education that is accessible to all and relevant to the needs of the nation. Filipinos should
also find education “truly liberating” through the development of critical thinking skills and an
appreciation of culture and the arts.
10-Point Plan
The shift to K-12 began under President Duterte’s predecessor, Benigno Aquino III, who
approached education as an investment in Filipinos, and offered a 10-point plan for improving
education as part of his election campaign. As well as K-12, the 10 fixes included pre-schooling
for all, technical-vocational training as an alternative in senior high school, working with local
governments to build new schools, proficiency in science and maths, and working with private
schools as “essential partners” in basic education. The plan is to expand the Government
Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education, supporting as many as 1m students at
private high schools through the Education Service Contracting Scheme.
Education For All
In 2015 the Education for All (EFA) initiative included provisions to ensure all Filipinos were able
to achieve what UNESCO calls “functional literacy”, the ability to read, write and do calculations
at a level that is sufficient for the country in which a particular person lives. Further supporting
the K-12 reform, the government set four key objectives for the EFA initiative: providing
education options for all out-of-school adults and young people; eliminating drop-outs and
repetition during the first three years of school; encouraging the completion of a full cycle of
basic schooling to a satisfactory level at every grade by all Filipino children; and committing to
the attainment of basic education competencies for everyone.
In fact, recognition of the need to move towards K-12 was evident much earlier. In 2005 the
government promised, under the Basic Education Reform Agenda, to remove all hurdles limiting
access to and delivery of basic education, whether regulatory, structural, financial or
institutional. The policy involved five key thrusts: school-based management; the development
of teacher education; national learning strategies; quality assurance and accountability; and
changes to the administration of DepEd, using the latest technology to ensure more effective use
of resources, whether staff or funds.
World Bank Assessment
In June 2016 the World Bank published its assessment on the Philippines reform of basic
education, “Assessing Basic Education Service Delivery”, noting that reforms were now backed
with a substantial increase in funding, after years of underinvestment exacerbated by average
population growth in excess of 2%.
The World Bank estimates that public spending increased by 60% in real terms between 2010
and 2015, helping finance infrastructure improvements and provide the means to hire more
teachers. As a result, between 2010 and 2013 the student-to-teacher ratio in public high schools
fell from 38:1 to 29:1, while the student-to-classroom ratio dropped from 64:1 to 47:1. However,
“despite impressive recent increases, the Philippines still spends less on education than many
neighbouring and middle-income countries,” the study noted. “Recent analysis has confirmed
the need for more spending to meet national education norms and standards.”
The World Bank study was commissioned by DepEd to assess how the public budget was being
used, in order for funds to be allocated more efficiently and effectively. It tracked 80% of the
government’s national education budget, as well as spending by local authorities, in the last
quarter of 2014.
In a separate report looking at the EFA initiative, UNESCO noted that even though the largest
portion of the Philippine budget had consistently been devoted to education, in percentage
terms this fell short of international standards, with the state spending only 2.6% of GDP on the
sector in 2011.
That figure has risen over the past few years to an expected 3.5% in 2017, but the Philippines
continues to spend far less on education as a proportion of GDP than many of its neighbours.
Both Vietnam and South Korea, which have some of the world’s best-performing schools
according to international benchmarks, spend 5% of GDP on education.
Early Encouragement
DepEd itself assessed the implementation of K-12 at a January 2017 conference with stakeholders
including government officials, school administrators and teachers.
Among the encouraging news, it found that the situation in kindergartens had improved, with a
more localised curriculum, the construction of clean, safe and child-friendly classrooms, and
closer cooperation with the community. Children were developing a love of reading, while
teachers’ skills had been enhanced via use of technology and the adoption of more effective
teaching strategies.
For grades one to six, best practice included a curriculum more suited to the needs of Christian
and Muslim pupils, closer cooperation with indigenous communities, the provision of self-paced
learning materials, catch-up programmes at all levels and the introduction of Learning Action Cell
sessions for teachers’ professional development. DepEd noted that in schools that had adopted
these practices enrolment rose and the drop-out rate fell. Minority groups were also more
confident, with Muslim children having the opportunity to learn Arabic.
Junior high schools also focused on programmes to reduce the drop-out rate and nurture
continued learning, including the use of ALS through a virtual classroom, a basic literacy
programme for adults, and scholarships for adult learners and students with special needs.
Schools reported increased enrolment and participation, along with rising community awareness.
Teacher competency also improved with training in new learning strategies focused on real-
world application.
In senior high schools, where the full roll-out of grade 12 is now taking place, DepEd said that the
policy has been largely successful, noting the transfer of junior high school teachers to fill
vacancies, and improved cooperation both between local and national government, and with the
private sector on the provision of facilities, including classrooms and dormitories for pupils living
in remote areas. A large percentage of those enrolled in private schools received vouchers, with
scholarships also available.
Raising Standards
Much of the official discussion on K-12 centres on the need to raise standards, improve teacher
quality and encourage completion of basic schooling. The drop-out rate has remained high, and
data from the “Functional Literacy, Education and Mass Media Survey” produced by the
Philippine Statistics Authority, shows that around 4m children and young people were out of
school in 2013, while as of April 2016, 16.6m Filipinos – or 39% of the workforce – had not
completed basic education. The World Bank noted continuing problems with access and
inequality. The report found that only 53% of the poorest 20% of households sent their children
to high school, while 81% of the wealthiest families did so. To address the problem, the
government aims to incentivise attendance, extend school feeding programmes and expand
programmes under the ALS, a “second chance” designed to ensure more Filipinos complete their
basic education. President Duterte has indicated that an enhanced ALS – better targeted with
wider coverage, more partnerships and approaches that meet learners’ needs – will be one of his
administration’s major legacies.
Regional Inequalities
The World Bank also found differences in allocations to education in different regions at the level
of both national and local government. While both have responsibility for funding education, the
World Bank estimates the local contribution, which is funded by property taxes, has been
declining since 2006. Currently, more than 90% of school funding originates from the national
government, with the proposed allocation to DepEd at P569.1bn ($12bn) in 2017, compared with
P431.5bn ($9.1bn) in 2016. Most goes towards teachers’ salaries, but a significant amount funds
financial assistance programmes for children from low-income families. Regional disparities in
funding levels do not necessarily correspond directly with outcomes. The report found that
although city schools received higher funding, their pupils tended to do less well in national tests
than their rural peers. The report cited insufficient infrastructure to cope with the larger student
bodies at urban schools and higher rates of teacher absences as reasons for this.
“Many schools, particularly in urban areas, have insufficient and poor quality facilities and a
shortage of teachers,” the report said. “Operational funding still falls short of the amounts that
schools need to pay bills, undertake basic repairs, and provide the day-to-day materials their
students need. And there is rarely anything left over to fund school-level initiatives to improve
student learning achievement.”
Allocation Of Funds
More effective targeting of funds to the areas of greatest need is therefore a priority alongside
an overall increase in budget allocations. Briones told the Education Summit in November 2016
there is “a need for a drastic improvement in absorptive capacity”. The Duterte administration is
planning to introduce a series of financial management reforms to improve education outcomes,
including: enhanced leadership supervision and oversight over finance, administration and
procurement; the creation of an education programme delivery unit to monitor budget execution
and intervene to ensure funds move smoothly to where they are needed; a financial
management information system to track budget spending in real time; and a more proactive
approach to spending.
Teaching Standards
In recent years DepEd has introduced a number of measures to improve the standard of teaching,
revising professional benchmarks and providing more on-the-job training. It has also made a
concerted effort to attract the brightest and the best by raising compensation and making the
selection process more competitive. In the past, teaching was poorly paid and often seen as the
fall-back course for university applicants who did not get onto their preferred course. Studies
found teacher knowledge in both elementary and high school was low, and that the professional
development programmes were insufficient.
Civil society is also helping. Non-profit organisation Philippine Business for Education launched
the Scholarships in Teacher Education Programme to Upgrade Teacher Quality in the Philippines
(STEPUP), which is funded by Australian Aid, in 2015. The idea is to encourage the country’s best-
performing college graduates and professionals to join the profession, with the aim of producing
1000 high-quality teachers for the public school system by 2019. Accepting candidates up to the
age of 45, STEPUP covers full tuition fees and offers a range of benefits for participants. In return,
successful applicants must work with DepEd for three years. The organisation offers a similar
scheme to encourage the best high school seniors to pursue degrees in education, majoring in
subjects including maths and English. The Philippines has not participated in an international
survey of school performance since a 2003 study showed only one-third of children in elementary
and secondary school were able to reach the lowest international benchmark in maths. It also
revealed stark differences in performance between children from low-and high-income families.
While that makes it hard to get a sense of how well the country’s children are doing relative to
their peers in region, results in national tests remain patchy. At elementary school, the average
score rose to 69.97% in 2013/14, but slipped back to 69.1% in 2014/15. The government targeted
a score of 77% in 2016. A similar trend is evident at the secondary level, where the average score
edged up to 53.77% in 2013/14 before dropping back to 49.48% in 2014/15. In 2016 the target
was 65%. National results also show that pupils in urban schools do not perform as well as those
in rural areas, according to the World Bank. The average score in the 2014 grade six exam was
66% in city schools and 75% in those outside urban areas, even though the former tended to have
larger revenues.
Meeting National Needs
The government insists that the education system must be more appropriate to the needs of the
country, including its economy. The aim is to improve students’ abilities in science and
technology, and nurture critical thinking, creativity and entrepreneurial spirit, as well as to
encourage them to support the wider community, especially those on the margins. Sex
education, along with awareness of the issues surrounding teenage pregnancy and the dangers
of drugs (from grade four), will be strengthened, and there will be a special emphasis on the
environment, climate change and disaster preparedness in a country that has frequently endured
earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and severe weather. To achieve these goals, the government is
overhauling the curriculum to establish a “spiral” approach, which is designed to challenge and
stimulate pupils so that they develop critical thinking skills. DepEd consulted industry during the
development of the new curriculum, although the final design was the work of DepEd alone.
Those learning science under the spiral approach, for example, learn general science, biology,
chemistry and physics on a per quarter basis. The basics are taught in grade seven, with more
complicated theories added as pupils progress through subsequent grades.
Higher Education
The Philippines is one of the few countries where the number of private higher education
institutions and students enrolled there is greater than in the state sector. Leading private
universities, such as the University of Santo Tomas, were established hundreds of years before
their public sector counterparts – although Filipinos were not allowed to attend until the 19th
century – while the University of the Philippines, the archipelago’s leading state university, was
set up in 1908, when the country was under US control.
National government spending on the tertiary education segment has risen in recent years, but
at 12.2% of the sector budget, spending remains below the international benchmark of 15-20%.
The 2017 allocation reflects a government decision to scrap tuition fees at all state universities
and colleges. However, students will still need to pay their living expenses with grants and other
forms of aid available to those from low-income families.
“In the short term, this will incrementally improve enrolment rates, and will help free up financial
resources for other college expenses and needs of the students,” Patricia Licuanan, chair of the
Commission on Higher Education (CHED), said in a statement after the budget was passed in
December. “From a wider perspective, this amount will eventually increase the available income
of families.”
The Philippine higher education system is managed by CHED and the Technical Education and
Skills Development Authority (TESDA). The country’s 228 state universities and colleges, which
had 1.88m students in the 2015/16 academic year, are operated and subsidised by the
government, with each university run by a board of regents and a board of trustees supervised
by the chair of CHED. Local government units can also establish local universities. The state
universities and colleges have a total of 454 satellite campuses, according to CHED.
The 1706 private universities and colleges, which have a total of 2.22m students, are generally
much smaller, are governed under the Corporation Code and can be non-profit religious
institutions or for-profit secular colleges. The greatest density of higher education institutions is
in the south of the largest island of Luzon, including Manila. In 2015/16, 26% of students (1.07m)
were enrolled in business-related courses, followed by 19% (791,000) studying education and
teaching, and 13% (517,000) on courses in engineering and technology.
Quality Of Instruction
Despite the size of the higher education sector, the quality of instruction remains low, according
to the Asian Development Bank (ADB). In professional board examinations, for instance, median
pass rates between 2005 and 2015 ranged from 34% to 43%. The ADB also noted a “worrisome
preponderance” within both the state and private sector of institutions with a pass rate of zero,
“indicative of a large number of low-quality higher education institutions.”
“CHED has instituted a vertical/horizontal typology approach to assess the quality of higher
educational institutions,” Caroline Marian Enriquez, president of Our Lady of Fatima University,
told OBG. “However, given that the current university landscape is composed of over 2000
institutions of very uneven quality, some of the standards may be too stringent or not applicable
to the core competencies of certain institutions.”
The government has been trying to rationalise the state sector by putting a halt to the
establishment of new course programmes by state universities and local colleges that do not
meet the standards set by CHED, by encouraging rationalisation and hopefully reducing course
duplication. It is also trying to raise standards through the introduction of quality institutional
sustainability assessment.
“For the government to truly improve the quality assurance system of education, it should
provide strong data on the performance of schools. Once analysis is provided on the 10 best- or
worst-performing schools, the market will be able to decide based on this information,” Chito
Salazar, president and CEO of Phinma Education, told OBG PHILIPPINE QUALIFICATIONS
FRAMEWORK: In addition, the government has enhanced the Philippine Qualifications
Framework (PQF) to put it in line with the ASEAN Qualifications Reference Framework and ensure
academic programmes meet international standards. “The PQF can significantly reduce jobs-skills
mismatch. It can also boost international confidence among Filipino workers by making them
more competitive and employable,” Senator Joel Villanueva, a former TESDA director-general,
said in August 2016 (see analysis). The government is committed to creating a system that is
more aligned to 21st century needs, positioning higher education as an accelerator for innovation
and inclusive development. It is encouraging cooperation between academia and industry,
supporting the professional development of teaching and research staff who want to complete
their doctorate, and promoting research cooperation between institutions and across borders.
Already, courses in subjects including meteorology, business analytics and naval architecture
have been developed with industry, and a degree in health informatics is under development.
Research Partnerships
Research and development (R&D) has also been a focus in areas such as food security, the
environment and natural disasters, biodiversity and health systems in order to support the
Duterte administration’s socio-economic objectives. As part of the push for reform, the
government is keen to encourage increased private investment and internationalisation in higher
education.
Some institutions already partner with overseas universities on select courses, while the
Philippine-California Advanced Research Institute (PCARI) was initiated in 2013 by the scientific
community and academics to boost the country’s research capacity by supporting post-doctoral
scholars and R&D proposals with the potential to address the Philippines’ developmental issues.
The PCARI’s R&D projects involve 15 private institutions working with partners at the University
of California, and include work on traffic management in urban areas, the development of
affordable solar energy systems for remote areas, and improving local capacity to design and
develop medical devices.
Outlook
The Philippines has embarked on education reforms that it considers crucial to its economic
development, bringing its school system into line with international standards and seeking to
open up its higher education sector to more people, while supporting R&D that will raise its
academic profile and bring lasting benefits to the country.
The government had to overcome substantial opposition to introduce K-12, a sign of its
determination to bring lasting change, but sustained funding to support the increased demand
on resources will be crucial if these bold reforms are to be a success.

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