Filipino students lag in learning by 5 years

[Possum]

I read the following a few days ago which indicates the culture of government incompetence/corruption just may be one of the problems.

 

<snip>

An appalling revelation that came out of recent Senate hearings is that the Department of Education (DepEd) has not had textbooks in our public elementary schools for the last 11 years except for grades 4, 5, and 6—and only for two subjects in grade 4! The Second Education Commission or EdCom II traced the problem to our textbook procurement processes, noting that a major cause of delay was “the previous practice of procuring manuscripts separately from printing and delivery services.” Add to this the high cost of materials, suppliers’ failure to meet printing and delivery deadlines, and too few bidders or publishers. It’s a disheartening picture, and in the middle of so much bureaucratic inertia, it’s hard to get the feeling that needed improvements are forthcoming.

There’s also the Commission on Audit report that DepEd travel expenses doubled to P1.692 billion in 2022, with foreign travel expenses jumping nearly 12 times. Is our education budget, constitutionally mandated to be the largest, being spent in ways that improve education outcomes? It’s bad enough that we spend far, far less on our students than our neighbors do and much of the rest of the world does. One of Pisa’s damning observations is that our average cumulative 10-year spending per student from age 6 to 15 ($11,030) is only one-ninth of the average spent by all Pisa countries ($102,612). Given the stretched state of government finances, especially in the wake of massive pandemic-related expenses that brought public debt levels quickly back to the danger zone, significant improvement on this will not be forthcoming. And with the recent failed attempt to snag a substantial DepEd budget increase in the form of confidential funds, the quality of budget utilization keeps coming into question.

<End snip>

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Edited December 13, 2023 by Mike J
Added <snips> to show text was clipped from URL

[Tommy T.]

I agree with many of the comments and reasons cited regarding the generally poor education and advancement of individuals of the Philippines

I believe climate is a big issue depending on location - it's bloody hot and humid in many places and often.

I think a lot of the problem is peer pressure too - we know of a few kids who worked hard for us at better than local wages who then turned against their family due to drinking, drugging or sheer attitude. Very sad.

I agree strongly that the wealthy and well-off prefer to keep the poor in "their" place. I believe this is true world-wide. I know this is a generality, but I have observed this while travelling in many parts of the world - particularly the Pacific Ocean islands.

I will reiterate a comment I made before here.... I believe that much of the money that is set aside for education here gets side-tracked to "who knows where?"

But I will relate a short but very positive incident.... I have a friend who attended high school here in Davao, then went to and graduated from nursing school. She took all the exams and passed them all. She, unfortunately, married an American who helped her immigrate to USA. Within a year, he became abusive and they eventually divorced. While still here in Philippines, she worked as a qualified nurse in a hospital for many months and was never paid anything - this was during the pandemic. 

She - post divorce - worked a few jobs "under the table." Since then, she took and passed qualifying exam(s) in USA and is now working as an emergency room nurse in a hospital and earning about US$100k/year.... She was strong and persistent in her goals.... So there is a good story for all of us...

[hk blues]

14 minutes ago, Possum said:

Interesting recent education piece about education.

An appalling revelation that came out of recent Senate hearings is that the Department of Education (DepEd) has not had textbooks in our public elementary schools for the last 11 years except for grades 4, 5, and 6—and only for two subjects in grade 4! The Second Education Commission or EdCom II traced the problem to our textbook procurement processes, noting that a major cause of delay was “the previous practice of procuring manuscripts separately from printing and delivery services.” Add to this the high cost of materials, suppliers’ failure to meet printing and delivery deadlines, and too few bidders or publishers. It’s a disheartening picture, and in the middle of so much bureaucratic inertia, it’s hard to get the feeling that needed improvements are forthcoming.

There’s also the Commission on Audit report that DepEd travel expenses doubled to P1.692 billion in 2022, with foreign travel expenses jumping nearly 12 times. Is our education budget, constitutionally mandated to be the largest, being spent in ways that improve education outcomes? It’s bad enough that we spend far, far less on our students than our neighbors do and much of the rest of the world does. One of Pisa’s damning observations is that our average cumulative 10-year spending per student from age 6 to 15 ($11,030) is only one-ninth of the average spent by all Pisa countries ($102,612). Given the stretched state of government finances, especially in the wake of massive pandemic-related expenses that brought public debt levels quickly back to the danger zone, significant improvement on this will not be forthcoming. And with the recent failed attempt to snag a substantial DepEd budget increase in the form of confidential funds, the quality of budget utilization keeps coming into question.

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One might reasonable assume that whatever amount of confidential funds that were not allocated may well be found from somewhere within the allocated budget instead.  

[craftbeerlover]

On 12/10/2023 at 5:30 AM, scott h said:

That old chestnut? It just an excuse loosers trot out in an attempt to excuse poor performance in all levels. And we know that excuses are like butts, everyone has one and they usually stink. 

It is absolutely not an excuse, the Philippines has only been a sovereign country since 1946.  Christ some on this forum are probably that old or close to it.    That is only a couple generations ago, so yes not being a free country and being ruled by others for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years will affect the society as a whole and it will take some time to find their footing.   The Church has tried to lead that cause and... well I wont comment on that.   Its not so black and white where you can say, you are a free people now, get off your ass and do the right thing.   The examples you provided do not come close to the hundreds and hundreds of years the Filipinos were being ruled, enslaved, made to feel like they were not equal to their rulers etc... 

[Possum]

3 hours ago, craftbeerlover said:

The examples you provided do not come close to the hundreds and hundreds of years the Filipinos were being ruled, enslaved, made to feel like they were not equal to their rulers etc... 

That does not excuse the fact that for almost 70 years Filipinos have been ruled by Filipinos with no improvement except for those at the top of the food chain and the politicians. In reality, nothing has changed.

[Lee]

3 hours ago, Possum said:

In reality, nothing has changed.

An argument could be made that over the last 130 years the Philippines has simply exchanged one slave owner (the Spanish) for another (the rich).

[craftbeerlover]

3 hours ago, Possum said:

That does not excuse the fact that for almost 70 years Filipinos have been ruled by Filipinos with no improvement except for those at the top of the food chain and the politicians. In reality, nothing has changed.

Agreed, but it is a factor, it is part of the equation.   This is an excerpt from a paper written many years ago,                   "What about the Filipinos? Fears
were expressed by many Americans
that once the civil service became
completely Filipinized, the undesir-
able Filipino propensity for nepo-
tism, the spoils system and corrupt-
behavior "learned" from the Span.
iards would take over."

The paper went on to say that during the American occupation,                                                                                             "It can also be observed that the
situation of public service during
the American regime was very much
improved, in many ways. To men-
tion some, the service was not only
professionalized, but it also guaran-
teed adequate income to civil ser-
vants. "       hahhaha maybe we were a generation or two to quick to give the Philippines back to the Filipinos (kidding)

[Mike J]

I have only lived here for 10 years but I have seen slow, but rather steady, improvement in some areas.  Unfortunately education is not one of those areas.

 

[jimeve]

My wife's niece is staying with us, she's on a collage course studying Radiography, 4 years. Don't know how many hours she actually spends in the class-room but the teacher has them doing dancing and other non learning lessons in the gym and when she got back from collage yesterday she said they no more lessons til next January.

[Possum]

54 minutes ago, jimeve said:

Don't know how many hours she actually spends in the class-room but the teacher has them doing dancing and other non learning lessons in the gym and when she got back from collage yesterday she said they no more lessons til next January.

Makes as much sense as me having to take Ancient and Medieval European History as a mechanical engineering student in the USA. Learning dancing would have served me better in my other pursuit.