Republic of the Philippines

Commission on Higher Education

DON HONORIO VENTURA TECHNOLOGICAL STATE UNIVERSITY
Bacolor, Pampanga

REFLECTION PAPER ON CURRENTS ISSUES AND PROBLEMS IN EDUCATION

TOPIC STATEMENT

PRIVATE EDUCATION

TOPIC OVERVIEW (provide a comprehensive discussion/background information of the topic and cite the sources/information)

Private schools, also known as independent schools, are privately-owned non-state schools that are not funded by the government. The funds are provided by the private owners and the students.
Although private schools are generally different, they follow much of the same curriculum as public schools. Government recognition of private education was given in the Article XIV, Section
5(1) of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, which states that “the State recognizes the complementary roles of public and private institutions in the educational system and shall exercise reasonable
supervision and regulation of all educational institutions.”

For both elementary and secondary education, private schools teach the national curriculum set by the Department of Education. This curriculum includes standard subjects like Filipino, English,
Mathematics, Science, Social Science, Philippine History and Culture, Physical Education and Arts, and Mother Tongue. Private Education provide by private institutions may also include elective
subjects, such as Foreign Language, Solid Mensuration, and Genetics. These inclusions, of course, must be approved and must abide to the regulations set by the Department of Education.

More recently, a total of 13,921 Private Education establishments were covered in the 2012 Census of Philippine Business and Industry (CPBI) conducted nationwide. In 2014, 18% of secondary
students, or 1.3 million students, were enrolled in private schools. In the case of higher education, Private Education dominates the market, as there were 1,710 private Higher Education Institutions
in operation in the 2016/17 academic year, which include both religiously affiliated institutions (mostly Catholic schools) and non-sectarian institutions. (Macha, Mackie, Magaziner, 2018, Education
in the Philippines, https://wenr.wes.org/2018/03/education-in-the-philippines)

KEY POINTS CONSIDERED AS TRENDS IN THE TOPIC

As a result of the existence of Private Education, the government has created a public-private partnership in education where the government sponsors study at low-cost private schools with tuition
waivers and subsidies for teacher salaries in an attempt to “decongest” the overburdened public system. This is called the Philippine “Educational Service Contracting” program (ESC). It provides
the state with a way to provide education at a lower cost than in public schools, with parents picking up the rest of the tab – a fact that has caused critics to charge that the government is neglecting
its obligation to provide free universal basic education. The number of ESC tuition grantees increased by 40 percent between 1996 and 2012 and accounted for almost 60 percent of all private high
school students in 2014.

There is also the Adopt- a-School Act. The program links the DepEd with players and organisations that are able to assist in the provision of basic education resources, such as classrooms, teaching
materials and equipment. For 2014, the DepEd recently confirmed that it has received more than P5.5bn ($124m) in donations from the private sector towards the Adopt-a-School program.
Currently, more than 130 private companies are participating by supporting specific DepEd initiatives and program such as nationwide feeding program, teacher training and integration of
integration technology.

Aside from the existing Adopt-a-School program, the DepEd has also been championing and inviting private sector support of the Abot Alam program. This program focuses specifically on
locating “out-of-school youth” (OSY) between the ages of 15 and 30. The aim is to successfully finding them educational, entrepreneurship and employment opportunities. Since the beginning of
the program, the DepEd has mapped over 1.2m OSY. Of this number, 76,000 have been enrolled in the Alternative Learning System program, Alternative Delivery Mode, completed skills training
or have been employed. The challenge is pressing across all youth age groups, with recent government figures revealing that 5.59m children between the ages of five and 17 years old were working
and not in full-time education in 2014.

These partnerships provided a way for the private sector to participate in nation-building via the education of Filipinos. (The key role of the private sector in Philippine education,
https://oxfordbusinessgroup.com/analysis/key-role-private-sector-philippine-education)

REFLECTION/REACTION

The size and role of the private sector in the Philippine school system has been considerably growing and improving every year. Amidst limited capacities and low funding levels in the Philippine
higher education system, private institutions offer deserving students who cannot get admitted into competitive public institutions access to education. Furthermore, the partnership created between
the private and public sector provides the state with a way to support education at a lower cost than in public schools, with parents picking up the rest of the tab – a fact that has caused critics to
charge that the government is neglecting its obligation to provide free universal basic education. This also reflects that publicly subsidized private education is a growing trend with increasing
numbers of low-cost private schools now entering the Philippine market in the wake of the K-12 reforms.

Moreover, many private HEIs in the Philippines are “demand-absorbing” institutions that fill a gap in supply created by the massification of education in the Philippines. It should be noted,
however, that with the exception of top Catholic universities like Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University or the University of Santo Tomas, a majority of these institutions are smaller
for-profit providers that enrol fewer than 1,000 students. The quality of education at many of these profit-driven institutions tends to be below the standards of prestigious public HEIs. Enrolment
levels at public institutions therefore remain substantial, considering the large number of private HEIs.

RECOMMENDATION/SUGGESTION

When education is delivered in the public schools, the public school students have every right to demand from the government free education, free admission, and provide for their educational
needs. But it ought to be different when education is delivered in the private schools. In a private school, a contractual relationship is created between the students/parents and the schools where
they all have obligations. While these contractual relationships should not go beyond government scrutiny and regulation, such limitation should be reasonable and not one that impairs obligations
and contracts.

The right to continue education in the private schools is conditioned on meeting obligations and requirements set by the school based on its definition and standards of quality. As long as
“fundamental fairness” is observed in the private schools, and there is “color of due process,” government intervention should be sparingly exercised. In the absence of governmental interference,
the liberties guaranteed by the Constitution cannot be invoked against private entities.
(Cruz, Isagani, 2015. https://www.philstar.com/education-and-home/2015/11/04/1518387)
 Prepared and Submitted by:

ARNAGERLIE B. GONZALES
MAED Student

Submitted to:

LEONARDO D. ZAPANTA, Ed. D, CESO VI