Epic Fail... Philippines Educational System

[Old55]

Another informative but scathing peek behind the curtain from Antipinoy. A lost opportunity considering about 35% Filipinos are under the age of 15. http://antipinoy.com/free-education-or-affordable-education/

[Jake]

Another informative but scathing peek behind the curtain from Antipinoy. A lost opportunity considering about 35% Filipinos are under the age of 15. http://antipinoy.com...able-education/

I'm with ya Dan! By the way, the webmaster of "antipinoy" is BongV who have gathered manyof his locals both men and women, to write what is really on their minds. It's an eyeopener. Anyway, regardless of the educational system there in PI, majority of the HS and college gradswill often be frustrated because of the piss poor employment. I'm beginning to think that theOFWs are the modern day gypsies being employed throughout the world. Bachelor of sciencein computers, engineering and certified teachers -- many end up elsewhere as drivers, maids,construction workers and nannies. Most of them are severely underpaid. Jake

[ekimswish]

I only had time to read half of the article, but I was liking it. I mean, really, in a country where wages are low even for teachers, it might be easier just to finance it at the local level, even among the poor. I was talking to one of the big shot high school teachers in my wife's hometown, and he's notorious for skipping class himself to go to the cockfights or hang out doing nothing. He justified it to me while drinking, saying he used to be young and idealistic, but after years of not getting new textbooks they were supposed to get because there was no budget, and then finally getting new textbooks which were actually the same ones they were intended to get years prior, he figured it was too corrupt at the top for him to even care. Anyways, he's unionized and safe, I believe. Sorry if I didn't tell the story well. I can't remember the exact details, but someone's stealing books and/or money for books, and it's not the students.

Edited December 2, 2011 by ekimswish

[Old55]

Some of my family were teachers and a Principal of a rural school on Leyte. They said funding was always a problem at times pay checks would be delayed. Most textbooks were from Filipino company's who were owned by corrupt government and of poor content and quality.

[softail]

I personally feel that education isn't really a priority in the RP because it is a good way to stay in power. If you have an educated well fed population they have more time to look at the situation and get more involved the system. Think about it, would a well educated population even consider electing a popular boxer who has no education or qualifications whatsoever to a responsible government position? For the wealthy few who control most of the money in the country and are well connected and have family members in government positions, its all about maintaining that hold on the country and the way to maintain that hold is to keep the masses hungry and uneducated. Doug

[Call me bubba]

After reading this article, 3 parts STOOD OUT as an EYE OPENER,I see some truth in these 3 statements.my comments are""seems that the system is not designed to serve or empower""...If the system was better or improved would this "empower" the people to question how things are done, to make their lives more productive like other post independece/war countries in Asia(cough vietnam, singapore ,japan cough)By keeping out foreign companies,(investment) it does seem that it limits a "fair"playing field to improveboth the countries economic position and enhance the workers wages , this restriction in turns prevents them to have a better,more productive lifestyle .If this was changed More workers would not have to go abroad "OFW" to have the income needed to support a family.......................................................................................................1. When public education winds up with millions of stupid Filipinos who know nothing except to be freeloading mendicants – something is amiss – not just public education but in the entire Philippine educational system.2.Of course, the Makati Bulok Club sycophants want to monopolize the education industry and skew it so that PAL, Globe, PLDT, MPIC, SM, ABS-CBN and the big Filipino businesses have EXCLUSIVE access to cheap labor. Having BS Commerce graduates as shoe store clerks who are laid off every five months and rehired after being laid off for a month then becomes official Department of Labor policy. Having too many bright boys will not be good because then they will start asking the right questions. It gives off a perception that the Philippine educational system is not designed to serve and empower the Filipino citizenry – rather it is designed to keep them ignorant and dumb in the service of the oligarchy.3.By the look of it, the companies which make up the Makati Bulok Club don’t want foreign companies to come in and hire Filipinos because this will reduce the supply of available labor thereby causing upward pressure on labor compensation

[Old55]

Guy’s I agree with you 100%. It is not in the ruling family or Catholic Church best interest to have an educated population. In fact the best and brightest are encouraged to depart the country as OFW’s and branded heroes.

[Tatoosh]

Filipino education is variable at best. My wife is working on a Masters Degree in Special Education. It is not the equivalent of a US Masters Degree, but it much more academically rigorous than most undergraduate courses. I have talked to and dealt with Filipinos from better schools that are close to US or British standards, but they are far and few between. Provincial schools simply do not have the resources to produce excellent outcomes. Teachers are variable depending on the system they are in.PRC credentials can be bought, so competence as a teacher is not guaranteed even with a teachers certificate. But that is not true *everywhere* so getting to know your school system and school choices is very important. And so is the cost of the school tuition. Generally public schools are a waste and so are many private schools. Better private schools will set you back 20 to 25 thousand pesos a semester and up. That can be way way up if you look at top end *international* schools like Brent or similar.I have one young in-law going to in Luzon at a fairly competent public school. It is resource poor but the teachers are, for the most part, good and motivated. In that area, she is quite lucky. In her home province in the Cebu area, the teachers are often incompetent, inattentive and unqualified. NOT all of them, but a significant portion are. So what to do? Dunno. I like the place and am saddened by the choices of the powerful, but I sure can't change it except for those in my family. My wife has US textbooks and reference books that are better, clearer, and far more expensive than the mid-to-upper level university she attends provides. I work with her to be sure she understands various aspects, particularly language, that are unfamiliar to her. Many of her classmates are teachers in the university and quite well educated. So it is not impossible to get a good education here, but you have to be choosy, willing to pay (though usually cheap by US standards) and willing to move if no quality school is available in your area. The downward spiral of Filipino education is tied to both vested interests and overly nationalistic viewpoints that seek to demonize previous colonial powers in order to elevate the culture. Since many "certificates" can be purchased or are do not have rigorous standards, they are not well regarded overseas. And that hurts both the Filipinos ability to work or be paid a good wage. They need to tighten things up, but that will demand a much more strict accounting, something that just is not going to happen here in the near future.

[Curley]

This is a subject that has been on my mind lately. My girlfriend has an honors degree in hotel management but needs to study for a further 12 months to get her bachelors and then 6 months more to get her Masters. It seems to me that her degree is really nothing more than a sort of high school certificate. She didn't have much choice of courses and seemed to have taken hotel management as one of the few options available. We have discussed the possibility of putting her through a better uni in Davao or Cebu and it seems as though she will have to start from scratch as her degree is not universally recognised. I don't particularly want her to work and I can afford to give her a decent lifestyle but I'm trying to consider what would happen to her if we did not hit it off in the long term. It would be good if she had qualificatons that would allow her to get a decent job.This is something that we need to study, any feedback on the best choice of career would be very helpful particularly from members who have sponsored wives/girlfriends or family members through uni. The obvious choices are law and medicine but I understand that they're 7 year courses.One thing that I do want to avoid is putting her through uni and then finding out that her "degree" is not recognised elsewhere. I intend moving to the Philippines and may well marry if it works out ok. I would like to keep my options open with regard to leaving the Philippines with her.

[Tatoosh]

Very good of you to think of her future. There is also an aspect of respect by other Filipinos, not often discussed in expat forums. Most foreigner's Filipino wives are looked down upon in upper Filipino society. I don't mean they are routinely insulted, though that does happen in some places among strangers. That tends to change if they have a good education or success on their own. I do not mean this post to demean anyone. I was as surprised as anyone when I first heard of this and it took me awhile to get my head around.Like most places, in the Philippines, money talks. So if a woman is married or dating a foreigner, she gets the respect money provides. But it is the money that has the respect. And individual personalities make for different results. But I ended up in some long talks with my wife, who has seen both ends of this when I made a couple of trips to the ICU ward. First time we were not married and she was not given so much respect until I was awake and calling for her. Second time, she was married, working on a masters degree and known to my doctors, completely different attitude by the hospital staff. Staff here means nurses and office workers. Doctors were always pretty professional.As an expat here, you may not realize that respect for your wife is not always high, particularly among more successful Filipino professionals and if she seen as marrying solely for money. If you plan to live in the Philippines, seeing that she has good education is an excellent way of providing her more respect and access to a wider array of the society. Something to consider for the long term.I am not sure where you are from Curley, but as for degrees being recognized, that will vary with the institution's academic record and the country you move to. USA will, I think, recognize many degrees, but I won't have first hand knowledge until my wife finishes her masters and we have both her bachelors and masters evaluated for the USA. Great Britain generally does not recognize Filipino degrees as equivalent. I am guessing that countries with strong ties to the UK are similar. It is frustrating that you can not find a good source of evaluations for varying institutions ahead of time, but it seem to be an "after the fact" process.Also, not sure what the "honors degree" is ... from high school? She is 3 or 4 years through the college program? And six months for a masters is, well, simply not a real masters. Most universities are 5 years now for a bachelors and 2 years or more for a Masters though they could theoretically be done in a bit over a year if the student was exceptional and had no other distractions. A masters here takes 39 or more credit hours, a comprehensive test and a thesis usually. A few schools are on the Trimester plan so that can accelerate the timeline, but lowers the content due to less time spent in class.I have a bro-n-law getting an HRM degree in Baguio City on the trimester program. Three years to get a bachelors. He is generally doing 10 to 12 hours of college a day. My wife is doing the masters and it is one and half years to get through the course work, doing 6 to 9 credit hours a semester, not counting the 6 hours for her thesis. With the comprehensive exam and her thesis, tack on another six months or more.

Edited January 9, 2012 by Tatoosh