Public asked to back basic education

Department of Education Secretary Jesli Lapus called on the public to help solve the crisis presently sweeping the education sector.

Lapus said the crisis would not be solved without public support for basic education, saying that from about 14 percent in 2000, the P112-billion budget for education last year shrunk to 11 percent.

While a supplemental budget of P9.65 billion is being considered for DepEd in line with the 2006 reenacted budget of P112 billion, this is still not enough to comply with all the requirements of the education system.

"Add this to our need for more classrooms, teachers and textbooks, we know that despite government's sincerity to put education on top of its agenda, our current resources will not be enough," Lapus said.

The lack of resources, Lapus said, translates to the poor performance of students as reflected in the recent Functional Literacy Education and Mass Media Survey conducted in 2003, wherein it was found out that over 15 percent of the population is not functionally literate.

This means that over 11million Filipinos do not have the literacy skills required to enable them to provide worthwhile livelihood for themselves and their families.

In the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study conducted in 2004, the Philippines placed 41st in math and 42nd in science in the field of 45 countries.

"This means that our country is one of the poorest performers in both math and science," Lapus said.

In the National Achievement Test conducted earlier this year, it was found out that majority of students failed to achieve the 75 percent mark in all subjects, which means that most of them do not have required competencies in English, math, science, social studies and Filipino.

"This is why we are asking for the public's support-through programs such as the Adopt-A-School Program which provides a means for the private sector to participate in basic education, with tax incentives of up to 150 percent," he said.

"Through Adopt-A-School (program) we hope that we can enjoin the private sector to the cause for basic education. Through the public's efforts-and the efforts of others, we can beat this crisis, provide our children with the quality education they need to become truly productive and competitive in the coming years," Lapus added. - Jasmin R. Uy