‘A matter of national survival’

There is no other way of putting this. No doubt, it is a matter of national survival.

I am referring to the alarming and disturbing findings of the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM II), a national commission tasked with evaluating the performance of the Philippine education sector.

The nearly 400-page report, release recently, builds on the first EDCOM which confirmed what many have long suspected – the Philippine education system is in a crisis and, may I add, a grave crisis.

Unfortunately, the EDCOM II findings show that we are nowhere near resolving this malaise.

How did we get here? There is no single answer; there are many – a corrupted education budget year in and year out; incompetence of our leaders and the lack of political will.

The solutions are as complex as the problem. We need a whole-of-nation approach.

EDCOM II puts a stronger spotlight on more issues even as it also seeks to understand and address the deep fractures in the Philippine education system.

This is how bad the situation is:

Early childhood care and development

For one, many Filipino children continue to suffer from severe malnutrition, high rates of stunting and low participation in early childhood education (ECCD), according to the report.

“Only 25 percent of Filipino children meet the recommended energy intake between ages six and 12 months, with particularly low rates among those from impoverished households.”

EDCOM II, quoting a landmark PIDS study, noted that Filipino children aged three to five had a diet that relied mainly on carbohydrates while consuming 20 percent less protein, 40 percent less fat and 35 percent less carbohydrates than recommended. Notably, children from the bottom 40 percent quintile consumed significantly less protein, a nutrient critical for growth and stunting prevention.

“Studies show that while 23 percent of children benefit from the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Supplementary Feeding Program, only 28 percent of these beneficiaries actually require the intervention. Worse, there was no difference in the energy intake between those who received the government intervention and those who did not.”

What do these findings tell us?

At a young age, Filipino children do not meet the adequate nutritional values needed to prepare them for school and for learning. This is a crucial stage in their development and yet, they are not getting what their bodies and minds need.

Government interventions are either insufficient or not properly targeted, as the findings showed.

Still on early childhood care and development, other factors contribute to the inadequate development of Filipino children at this stage.

Most parents, for instance, do not yet understand the importance of this stage, with “97 percent of parents believing that children under five are ‘too young’ for school.”

Many families also struggle with the distance of child development centers from their homes,

The migration of parents is another issue. “Preliminary findings from the Philippines Socioeconomic Panel Survey show that 40 percent of parents migrated for work when their children were young (defined as below 18 years of age). This coincides with findings from PIDS that in many households, ECCD depends on ‘parent-substitutes,’ such as older siblings, grandparents and domestic workers.”

Here, we see the social costs of labor migration and the government’s reliance on labor export.

Too many holidays, suspensions

Did you know that for Basic Education, part of the problem is the high number of lost learning days because of class suspensions and holidays?

“While PIDS found that in 2023 to 2024 about 53 percent of 180 teaching days were lost due to calamities and local holidays across the country, DepEd data as of November 2024 find that for the school year, students have already lost as many as 42 learning days in CAR, followed by Region IV-A (38 days), Region II (36 days) and Region I (33 days).”

This is a sad reality. Every administration tries to tweak the academic calendar to accommodate as many holidays and long weekends as possible, supposedly to support local tourism.

There must be a better way to do this instead of reducing the days our children spend in school.

A result of fewer school days is a disturbing decline in student achievement. According to the report, Grade 4 math and science students have shown a decline of up to 12 percent to 14 percent or equivalent to half a year of learning.

Imagine that.

Classroom backlogs

And then there’s the problem of classroom shortages.

“The backlog in classroom construction is at 165,000 classrooms, with many schools resorting to multiple shifts as well as alternative delivery modes... Likewise, only 30 percent of school buildings are in good condition.”

The culprit?

“The Philippines’ education budget growth still fails to keep pace with global standards, and basic education receives the lowest share in the budget despite its foundational role. Our education system suffers from underinvestment.

“Currently, the Philippines allocates an average of 3.2 percent of its gross domestic product to education, below the recommended four percent to six percent.

“Further, though the education budget has doubled in real terms from 2013 to 2024, once inflation is accounted for, the growth has actually been flat.”

As if this isn’t enough, our budget for education continues to be corrupted with impunity by our leaders and lawmakers.

We have an education crisis but clearly, our politicians do not have a crisis of conscience.

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Email: [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @eyesgonzales. Column archives at EyesWideOpen on FB.