Education – Post Colonial Era

Among the three colonizers of the country, the Americans dominate. With English as the medium of
instruction, the Philippine education is a prototype of the American system.

The majority of all enrolments is in vocational courses with a specific work goal, most of these are in
Business and Engineering. Hence, education is for everyone regardless of class and gender and public
schools in basic level education are not money-oriented.

However, the problem is, there are still inadequate school facilities, insufficient instructional materials,
Low teacher salaries, Private tuition fees are increasing year on year and the government only spends
12% of the national budget on education that is far from the suggested cut of the World Bank which is
20%. Education finance is very far from other Asian countries like Malaysia and Thailand.

But the action undertaken by different government administration along with the education sector is to
be responsible for contributing to the success of national development goals embedded in the
development plan of the country (Mariňas & Ditapat 1995). The main objectives and aims of education
in the country have been mentioned in the national constitution. Section 3(2), Article XIV of the
Constitution states that:

“All educational institutions shall inculcate patriotism and nationalism, foster love of humanity, respect
for human rights, appreciation of the role of national heroes in the historical development of the country,
teach the rights and duties in the historical development of the country, teach the rights and duties of
citizenship, strengthen ethical and spiritual values, develop moral character and personal discipline,
encourage critical and creative thinking, broaden scientific and technological knowledge and promote
vocational efficiency”.

These goals have been converted into educational policies and emphasized as the basic education
framework, elementary and secondary education.