Education governance

The Department of Education concluded last week this year’s 2008 National Educators’ Congress at the Teachers’ Camp in Baguio City. The congress focused on strategic management as a success factor in bringing about reforms and improving the state of education in the country. Education Secretary Jesli Lapus addressed 1,500 teachers, principals, supervisors, school superintendents, regional directors, administrators, assistant secretaries and undersecretaries who participated in the annual event.

In his keynote speech, “Education Governance for the 21st Century”, Lapus, a former businessman and banker, opined for teachers to share actively in the Herculean task of managing a system replete with problems. Rightly so, for we have yet to see concrete reforms in a bureaucracy that has always given a black eye to the state of education in the country. The latest statistics show that 20 million learners attend classes in only 45,000 schools and community centers, with a large number of classrooms and facilities in dismal state, students taught and supported by a meager 513,000 teaching and non-teaching personnel. 

Despite the massive re-tooling and re-training of teachers for which government allotted billions of pesos, still many lack the skills and training to enable our youth to meet the challenges of today’s world. Lately, we read of militant teachers who daily publish their demands in the newspapers, threatening to rally if these are not met. With the frequency of their strikes and verbal threats, we won’t be surprised if the next generation of students would also habitually take to the streets to press their demands and find this as natural as the rising of the sun.                  

Another challenge for the government in the aspect of education is providing basic education for all. The Philippine Government is a signatory to the Global Education For All (EFA) pact way back in 2000, wherein all participating countries vowed to extend early childhood care and education, and that by 2015, all children, especially girls, will have access to free, compulsory quality education. However, statistics show that enrolment in schools has been declining since 2003, especially in public schools. More and more children are dropping out of school due to extreme poverty. Elementary and high school education are free but whatever money poor parents and children earn goes to the budget for food and nothing is left for uniforms, school supplies and transportation to school. In 2006, there are 2.35 million children out of school. On the other hand, the number of college dropouts has also increased due to the rising cost of tuition fees and the spiraling cost of living.        

Reports show that, problems identified more than a decade ago, still persist today. Right now, out of every 100 Filipino children, only 86 make it through elementary and only 44 ever finish high school. The nation’s future depends on education. That is the burden for every leader at the helm of the country’s educational system. His governance must encompass a broad range of issues and concerns that has beset the system for a long time. To build the capabilities of the nation’s educators as effective managers in order that the available resources can be maximized and managed well is a strategic move. But the new paradigm within which they operate must not overshadow the primordial objective of educators to teach and to inspire the youth to become responsible citizens of tomorrow.

The educational system must be focused on its relationship with our goals for economic development. Our national hero Rizal, himself, then saw education as the key to meaningful independence and progress. We must continue to have faith in education, that it will accomplish the thing that will be good in each Filipino and how he relates in the global village and so contribute to national progress.