Inequalities in RP Deprive Kids of Basic Education
Governments around the world, including the Philippines, are depriving children of basic literacy and numeracy skills because they have failed to address “deep and persistent” inequalities in education.
The warning was issued by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as it launched on Nov. 25 its 2009 global monitoring report on Education for All, “Overcoming Inequality: Why Governance Matters.”
According to the report, many countries are way off target in their goal of achieving universal primary education, one of six internationally agreed upon goals that countries like the Philippines pledged to meet by 2015. It noted that inequalities in education arise from, among others, income, gender, location, ethnicity, language and disability.
Adopted in 2000 in Dakar, Senegal, the six Education for All (EFA) goals are, to wit:
1. Expanded early childhood care and education
2. Free and compulsory primary education for all
3. Learning and life skills for young people and adults
4. Increase in adult literacy by 50 percent
5. Gender parity by 2005 and gender equality by 2015
6. Improved quality of education
The National Statistical Coordination Board of the Philippines declared in July that the country was “far from achieving” EFA by 2015 because of the consistent drop in the net enrolment ratio or participation rate at the elementary level from schoolyear 2002-03 to schoolyear 2006-07.
The latest Unesco report listed the Philippines as among the countries where the inequalities in education are readily distinguishable.
Filipino children in the poorest 20 percent receive five years less education than children from the wealthiest families, Unesco said. On the average, the poorest 20 percent have 6.3 years of education compared to the 11 years of education of the richest 20 percent.
The report also noted the widening wage gap in the Philippines between those with college education and those without.
Unesco described the Philippines as among the 21 countries with “high enrolment, low survival.” Its partial projections show that of at least 29 million children who will still be out of school in 2015, more than 900,000 will be Filipinos.
Unesco raised concerns over the conditions of schools and the quality of education Filipino schoolchildren get. Among hem are:
1. Many schools and classrooms are in a state of disrepair. At least half of school heads say their “‘school needs complete rebuilding” or “some classrooms need major repairs,” the report disclosed.
2. At least 1/3 of students attend schools with insufficient toil
3. Schools also suffer an acute shortage of seating, and nearly half of students go to schools without libraries.
4. Village schools operate fewer days a year than town or city schools. Teachers in some village schools, for example, have reported teaching significantly fewer annual hours of mathematics and reading than teachers in city or town schools.
5. Poor morale and weak motivation also undermine teacher effectiveness.
6. The 6th EFA goal that the Philippines has proposed, the goal on adult literacy and gender parity is “at risk” of being achieved.
The Local Government Code allows local authorities to raise revenue for education through the Special Education Fund (SEF) tax on property.
Unesco, however, noted that “spending per student from the SEF in the poorest municipalities with the lowest property values is only 13 percent of the levels in the richest municipalities and 3 percent of that in the richest cities.”
The report suggested a number of policies to remedy the inequalities in education, ranging from removal of school fees for basic education and increased public investment, to a strengthened commitment to education quality.
With reports from Vera Files
(VERA Files is the work of veteran journalists taking a deeper look at current issues. Vera is Latin word for true.)
A native of Cavinti, Lucila C. Oblena spent all her working years as an educator, beginning as a classroom teacher in 1944, then a Guidance Counselor and retired as a school Principal. She is also the founder of CLOTA (Cavinti Laguna Overseas Teachers Association). She is the Editor of Tipakan.com (Cavinti Diaspora).
