EDUCATION SYSTEM IN PHILIPPINES AND

HONGKONG
EDUCATION SYSTEM IN PHILIPPINES

• The education system of the Philippines has been highly influenced by the
country’s colonial history.  That history has included periods of Spanish,
American and Japanese rule and occupation.  The most important and lasting
contributions came during America’s occupation of the country, which began
in 1898.  It was during that period that English was introduced as the primary
language of instruction and a system of public education was first established
—a system modeled after the United States school system and administered
by the newly established Department of Instruction.
• The United States left a lasting impression on the Philippine school system. 
Several colleges and universities were founded with the goal of educating the
nation’s teachers.  In 1908, the University of the Philippines was chartered,
representing the first comprehensive public university in the nation’s history.
Education in the Philippines:  Structure
• Education in the Philippines is offered through formal and non-formal
systems.  Formal education typically spans 16 years and is
structured in a 6+6+4 system:  6 years of primary school education,
6 years of secondary school education, and 4 years of higher
education, leading to a bachelor’s degree.  In the Philippines, the
academic school year begins in June and concludes in March, a
period that covers a total of 40 weeks.  All higher education
institutions operate on a semester system—fall semester, winter
semester and an optional summer term.  Schooling is compulsory
for 6 years, beginning at age 7 and culminating at age 12.  These 6
years represent a child’s primary school education.
Primary Education
• Primary school education in the Philippines spans 6 years in duration and is compulsory for all students. 
This level of education is divided into a four-year primary cycle and a two-year intermediate cycle.  In the
country’s public schools, Filipino children generally begin school at age 6 or 7; however, private schools
typically start a year earlier and operate a seven-year curriculum rather than a six-year curriculum.
• At the conclusion of each school year, students are promoted from one grade level to the next, assuming
they meet the achievement standards set for that particular grade.  Students are rated in every subject four
times during the school year.  A cumulative points system is typically used as the basis for promotion.  To
pass a grade, students must earn at least 75 points out of 100, or seventy-five percent.
• During grades one and two in the Philippines, the language of instruction is generally the local dialect, of
which there are over 170 nationally, of the region in which the children reside.  English and Pilipino are
taught as second languages.  From third grade through sixth grade, or the remainder of primary education,
subjects such as mathematics and science are taught in English, with the social sciences and humanities
courses taught in Pilipino.
• Once a student successfully completes each of the six grades of primary school, he or she is awarded a
certificate of graduation from the school they attended.  There is no leaving examination or entrance
examination required for admission into the nation’s public secondary schools.
• The educational content of the primary school system varies from one grade and one cycle to the next.  As
you’ll recall, the primary school system is divided into two cycles:
Primary Cycle.  Four years—Grades 1-4, age 6-10
Intermediate Cycle—Grades 5 and 6, age 10-12

• There are a number of core subjects that are taught, with

varying degrees of difficulty, in all six grades of primary
school.  These are:
• Language Arts (Pilipino, English and Local Dialect)
• Mathematics
• Health
• Science
School in the Philippines: Medium of Instruction &Administration

• Although English was the sole language of instruction in the Philippines form
1935 to 1987, the new constitution prescribed that both Pilipino (Tagalog) and
English are the official language of instruction and communication.  After
primary school, however, the language of instruction is almost always English,
especially in the country’s urban areas and at most of the nation’s universities.
• The education system is administered and overseen by the Department of
Education, a federal department with offices in each of the country’s 13
regions.  Traditionally, the government has found it difficult to fully fund the
entire education system.  Because of that, most of the money earn marked for
education goes to the country’s primary schools.  Consequently, public school
enrollment at the primary level is about 90 percent, while at the secondary
level enrollment typically hovers somewhere around 75 percent.
Secondary Education
• Although secondary education is not compulsory in the Philippines, it is widely attended, particularly in the more
urban areas of the country.  At this level, private schools enroll a much higher percentage of students than at the
elementary level. According to statistics from the Department of Education, roughly 45 percent of the country’s high
schools are private, enrolling about 21 percent of all secondary school students.
• At the secondary school level there are two main types of schools:  the general secondary schools, which enroll
approximately 90 percent of all high school students, and the vocational secondary school.  Additionally, there are
also several schools that are deemed “Science Secondary Schools”—which enroll students who have demonstrated
a particular gift in math, science, or technology at the primary school level.  Vocational high schools in the
Philippines differ from their General Secondary School counterparts in that they place more focus on vocationally-
oriented training, the trades and practical arts.
• Just as they are in primary school, secondary school students are rated four times throughout the year.  Students
who fail to earn a rating of 75 percent in any given subject must repeat that subject, although in most cases they are
permitted to enter the next grade.  Once a student has completed all four years of his/her secondary education,
earning a 75 percent or better in all subjects, they are presented a secondary school graduation certificate.
• Admission to public schools is typically automatic for those students who have successfully completed six years of
primary education.  However, many of the private secondary schools in the country have competitive entrance
requirements, usually based on an entrance examination score.  Entrance to the Science High Schools is also the
result of competitive examinations.
• Schooling at the secondary level spans four years in duration, grades 7-10, beginning at age 12 or 13 and
culminating at age 16 or 17.  The curriculum that students are exposed to depends on the type of school they
attend.
General Secondary Schools
• Students in the General Secondary Schools must take and
pass a wide variety of courses.  Here the curriculum consists
of language or communicative arts (English and Pilipino),
mathematics, science, technology, and social sciences
(including anthropology, Philippine history and government,
economics, geography and sociology).  Students must also
take youth develop training (including physical education,
health education, music, and citizen army training), practical
arts (including home economics, agriculture and fisheries,
industrial arts and entrepreneurship), values education and
some electives, including subjects from both academic and
vocational pathways.
  Higher Education
• As of this writing, there were approximately 1,621 institutions of higher education in the Philippines, of
which some 1,445 (nearly 90 percent) were in the private sector.  There are approximately 2,500,000
students who participate in higher education each year, 66 percent of whom are enrolled in private
institutions.
• The public institutions of higher learning include some 112 charted state universities and colleges, with a
total of 271 satellite campuses.  There are also 50 local universities, as well as a handful of government
schools whose focus is on technical, vocational and teacher training.  Five special institutions also provide
training and education in the areas of military science and national defense.
• Before 1994, the overseer of all higher education institutions was the Bureau of Higher Education, a
division of the former Department of Education, Culture and Sports.  Today, however, with the passage of
the Higher Education Act of 1994, an independent government agency known as the Commission on
Higher Education (CHED) now provides the general supervision and control over all colleges and
universities in the country, both public and private.  CHED regulates the founding and/or closures of
private higher education institutions, their program offerings, curricular development, building
specifications and tuition fees. Private universities and colleges adhere to the regulations and orders of
CHED, although a select few are granted autonomy or deregulated status in recognition of their dedicated
service through quality education and research when they reach a certain level of accreditation.
Non-University Higher Education (Vocational and Technical)
• In recent years, vocational and technical education has become very
popular in the Philippines.  Technical and vocational schools and
institutes offer programs in a wide range of disciplines, including
agriculture, fisheries, technical trades, technical education, hotel and
restaurant management, crafts, business studies, secretarial
studies, and interior and fashion design. Interested candidates who
wish to pursue their education at one of the country’s post-
secondary vocational schools must have at least a high school
diploma and a Certificate of Graduation to qualify.  Vocational and
technical programs lead to either a certificate (often entitled
a Certificate of Proficiency) or a diploma. The Philippines’
Professional Regulation Commission regulates programs for 38
different professions and administers their respective licensure
examinations.
EDUCATION SYSTEM IN HONGKONG
EDUCATION SYSTEM IN HONGKONG

• Kindergartens
In Hong Kong, kindergartens and kindergarten-cum-child
care centers provide services for children from three to six
years old. The aim of kindergarten education in Hong Kong
is to nurture children to attain all-round development in the
domains of ethics, intellect, physique, social skills and
aesthetics; to develop good habits so as to prepare them for
life; and to stimulate children’s interest in learning and
cultivate in them positive learning attitudes in order to lay
the foundation for their future learning.
Primary Education
• The Government aims to provide a balanced and diverse school education that meet the
different needs of our students; help them build up knowledge, values and skills for further
studies and personal growth; and enhance students' biliterate (i.e. English and Chinese) and
trilingual (i.e. English, Putonghua and Cantonese) abilities.

• Primary schooling starts at the age of around six and there are six years of schooling at the
primary level. There are three modes of operation in the primary schools, namely AM, PM
and whole-day. Encouraged by the Government, most primary schools are adopting whole-
day operation. Chinese is the language of instruction in most of the schools with English
being the second teaching language..

• Since the curriculum reform at the basic education level in the 2001/02 school year, there
has been enhanced learning and teaching in classrooms. Students are now enjoying a wide
range of learning activities and there are improvements in students’ generic skills, values
and attitudes. They are becoming independent learners. Schools continue to adapt the
central curriculum to meet the students’ needs. By building on their strengths and
experiences, schools can strengthen their curricula to help students better develop their
lifelong learning capabilities and nurture their whole-person development.
• Since the curriculum reform at the basic education level in the
2001/02 school year, there has been enhanced learning and
teaching in classrooms. Students are now enjoying a wide
range of learning activities and there are improvements in
students’ generic skills, values and attitudes. They are
becoming independent learners. Schools continue to adapt the
central curriculum to meet the students’ needs. By building on
their strengths and experiences, schools can strengthen their
curricula to help students better develop their lifelong learning
capabilities and nurture their whole-person development.
Secondary Education
• There are three main types of local secondary schools – government schools which are operated by the
Government; aided schools which are fully subvented by the Government but run by voluntary bodies;
and private schools, some of which receive financial assistance from the Government. Government and
aided schools deliver a curriculum recommended by the Government. They offer free and secondary
education.
• Besides, there are some international schools which offer non-local curricula and serve primarily non-
Chinese speaking students and foreign nationals.
• To cope with the challenges of the 21st Century and the demands of the rapidly developing knowledge-
based society, the Government has implemented the 3-year new senior secondary (NSS) curriculum at
Secondary 4 in September 2009.
• This flexible, coherent and diversified curriculum aims at catering for students’ varied interests, needs
and abilities, as well as nurturing students’ whole-person development and lifelong learning capabilities.
The first cohort of NSS students graduated in the summer of 2012.
• All students can now benefit from six years of secondary education. At the end of Secondary 6, students
take one public examination - the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE) Examination,
which replaces the former Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination and Hong Kong Advanced
Level Examination. The first HKDSE examination was held smoothly in 2012. The HKDSE qualification
has gained extensive recognition locally and worldwide, in international benchmarking studies such as
the National Recognition Information Centerreport and the Tariff System of the Universities and Colleges
Admissions Service in the United Kingdom. At present, around 280 overseas tertiary institutions,
including renowned universities such as Cambridge University and Yale University, have accepted the
new qualification for admission purpose, and more are being added.
Post-secondary Education

• The Government strives to provide multiple study

pathways for secondary school leavers, with multiple
entry and exit points. Some of them will study bachelor’s
degree programmes direct after completing HKDSE,
whereas some will choose to study sub-degree
programmes. For those who study sub-degree
programmes, upon graduation, they can pursue study in
top-up degree programmes (i.e. “2 + 2” arrangement) and
obtain their undergraduate qualifications.
• At present, there are 22 local degree-awarding institutions (9 publicly-funded
and 13 self-financing ones) in Hong Kong. Apart from undergraduate
programmes offered, students can also choose a wide diversity of sub-
degree programmes as well as various continuing and vocational
programmes that best suit their interests and ability. They adopt a two-
pronged strategy of promoting the parallel development of the publicly-
funded sector and the self-financing sector in developing post-secondary
education in Hong Kong. Currently, 48% of our young people in the relevant
age cohort have the opportunity to pursue undergraduate studies. Taking
sub-degree places into account, more than 70% of young people have
access to post-secondary education. There is also a wide array of taught and
research postgraduate programmes for students who have graduated from
their undergraduate studies to choose from.
Vocational and Professional Education and Training
• Vocational and professional education and training (VPET) plays
a pivotal role in broadening the learning opportunities for school
leavers and in-service personnel as well as nurturing the requisite
human capital in support of Hong Kong’s development. It provides
multiple and flexible pathways for young people with diverse
interests and aspirations. The Vocational Training Council
(VTC) provides through its 13 member institutions around 250 000
training places each year, offering people of different education
levels with pre-employment and in-service VPET programmes.
Other post-secondary education institutions also offer about 160
self-financing higher diploma programmes, of which at least 60%
of the curriculum consists of specialised contents (e.g. learning
related to concentrations, disciplines and professions and
vocational skills, etc.).
Hongkong Grading System
Hongkong Grading System
Hongkong Grading System
$1,000,000: The Cost of a Hong Kong Education

• According to a survey undertaken by HSBC in June 2017,

families in Hong Kong pay more than HKD 1 million per
child for the duration of their education from kindergarten
through to the end of undergraduate studies. This covers
everything from tuition fees through to school uniform.
However, it’s important to note that Hong Kong is also
rated one of highest-achieving education systems in the
world. According to the Pisa rankings, which are based on
tests taken by 15-year-olds in more than 70 countries,
Hong Kong ranks second for maths and reading, and
ninth for science.
 CONCLUSION OF THE COMPARISON ON THE EDUCATION
SYSTEM BETWEEN PHILIPPINES AND HONGKONG
• 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 universities across the
archipelago the same in with Hongkong it is free and school is compulsory
from between ages 6-15(primary and junior secondary schools). Children
in public schools attend primary schools for six years, followed by three
years of junior secondary education, and another three years of senior
secondary education while in the Philippines, Junior secondary has 4
years while in senior secondary has two years, both countries has six
years in secondary school. Therefore, the two countries exhibits almost
the same education system. They both provides all learners with
capabilities they require to become economically productive, develop
sustainable livelihood, contribute to peaceful and democratic societies and
enhance individual well-being.
 That would be all,
Thank you for listening!

-Ma’am Luib-