The Need for Education

Reformation in the
Philippines
MA-103 PEDAGOGY IN THE NEW NORMAL
EDEL SYN MARIE L. BARRERA
Throwback
Pre-Colonial Period
SPANISH PERIOD
AMERICAN PERIOD
 Intro
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 SKEPTICAL ABOUT
THE PLAN.
 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.
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.
 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.
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.
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 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.