ECONOMIC ISSUES ON GLOBALIZATION IN EDUCATION

INTRODUCTION

Across the years our educational system has been rocked by

controversies which have remained unabated up to this day. Amidst the welter of

issues, two of them have managed to stand out in importance: quality and relevance.

The major difficulty in education for reasons of economy. The key issues and problems

in Philippine education which need further debate and depth analysis as well as

immediate resolution include the following:

1. Deteriorating quality of Education

It is uncommon to hear college teachers decry the quality of students that

come to them. They lament the students’ inability to construct a correct sentence,

much less a paragraph. Private schools have been assailed as profit-making

institutions turning out half-baked graduates who later become part of the

nation’s educated unemployed. All these are indications of the poor quality of

education.

There are multiple factors which have led to low educational standards. Studies

and fact-finding commissions have shown that the deteriorating quality of

education is due to the low government budget for education; poor quality of

teachers; poor management of schools; poor school facilities such as laboratory

and library facilities; poor learning environment; the content of the curriculum;

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 inadequate books and science equipment; the poor method of instruction;

shortages of classrooms; and others.

2. Colonial, feudal, imperial, commercial, and elitist orientation in Philippine

Education.

A rather sweeping indictment is that the Philippine educational system has

been and still basically American in orientation and objectives. Even now, despite

years of independence, our educational system has not succeeded in eliminating

the chronic colonial mentality which abounds like a mental blight within or without

the academe. At present, quality education is financial-capacity based, making

higher education more of a privilege rather than a right.

3. Shortage of Schools Buildings, textbooks and equipment

Since 1960, elementary enrolment has been expanding at the rapid rate of

4% a year owing to increase in the number of children and in the enrolment ratio.

The shortages of classrooms and textbooks are particularly severe. The

nationwide classroom shortage is estimated to be 40,000 and the DECS (now

DepEd) operates two shifts in many schools.

4. Overworked and underpaid teaching staff

Teaching has often been referred to as the “most notable of all professions.”

To many teachers, however, the noble image of their profession has been

transformed into an illusion. Over the last three decades, we have come to think

of the Filipino teachers as overworked and underpaid professionals.

5. Bilingual policy and the problem of a national language

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 The bilingual policy in education aims to develop a Filipino who is proficient in

both English and Filipino. For the past 20 years, since the DECS adopted the

bilingual policy, Tagalog-based Pilipino has been used to teach over half of the

subjects in the elementary and secondary curriculum of both public and private

schools. Mathematics and the natural sciences continue to be taught in English.

Despite the findings of the Ateneo Social Weather Survey that 92% of Filipinos

already speak and understand Tagalog, many provinces north and south of

Metro Manila still encounter problems with the language. This is unfortunate

because Pilipino is used in nationally conducted exams and tests. While the

bilingual policy is a law which not even the Secretary of Education can change, it

has become a growing concern that many students are deficient in

communication skills.

6. Mismatch

The major problem of the tertiary level is the large proportion of the so called

“mismatch” between training and actual jobs, as well as the existence of a large

group of educated unemployed or underemployed. The literature points out that

this could be the result of a rational response to a dual labor market where one

sector is import-substituting and highly-protected with low wages. Graduates may

choose to “wait it out” until a job opportunity in the high paying sector comes.

7. Globalization Issue In Education

It is in the educational sector where the concept of globalization is further refined

and disseminated. It comes in varied forms as “global competitiveness”, “the

information highway”, “the Third Wave Theory”, “post modern society”, “the end

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 of history”, and “borderless economy”. The so-called Philippines 2000 was

launched by the Philippine government to promote “global competitiveness”,

Philippine Education 2000 carried it to effect through training of more skilled

workers and surplus Filipino human power for foreign corporations to reduce their

cost of production.

Recommendation

We must track the budget so that the school will thrive due to globalization.