Notes About the Problems and Issues in the
Philippine Educational System: A Critical Discourse
by Prof. John N. Ponsaran
Colonial historiography. Many teachers, book authors, and Social Studies consultants give heavier premium to the history of the colonizers in the Philippines than the history of Filipino people. Mostly, this has been the case in the teaching of History subjects from the elementary to tertiary levels. The history of the Filipino people and the colonial history of the Philippines are two very different topics.
Internationalization of the division of labor. The Philippine educational system conditions its students to be skillful in arithmetic and computer literacy, fluent in foreign languages (specifically English and Nihonggo), and docile in order to serve as workers of the transnational businesses of the advanced, capitalist countries. Take the case of the call center phenomenon in the Philippines, India and other developing states.
Emasculation and demoralization of teachers. Teachers, more often than not, are victimized by the over-worked and under-paid policy of the system of the past and present dispensations. This leads to the emasculation and demoralization of their ranks. This probably explains why the teaching profession is not attracting the best and the brightest from the crop of students. Expectedly, this will result in the vicious cycle of mediocrity in education.
Fly-by-night educational institutions. The proliferation of fly-by-night educational institutions is counter-productive and anti-development. In the long run, it produces a pool of half-baked, unprepared, and incompetent graduates. Alarmingly, the country is having an over-supply already. This case is true for both undergraduate and graduate studies.
Culturally and gender insensitive educational system. The women sector, the masses and the indigenous people are historically excluded from the Philippine historiography in favor of the men, heroes from Luzon and the power elite. Women are marginalized and trivialized even in the language of education.
State abandonment of education. In the name of imperialist globalization, the state is abandoning its role to subsidize public education particularly in the tertiary level. This comes in the form of matriculation, laboratory and miscellaneous fee increases in order to force state colleges and universities (SCUs) to generate their own sources of fund. Ironically, the bulk of the budget (in fact, more than one-third in the case of 2005 National Budget) goes to debt servicing, which is an unproductive enterprise.
Sub-standard textbooks. Some textbooks which are already circulation are both poorly written and edited. Take the case of the Asya: Noon at Ngayon with an identified total number of more than 400 historical errors. Unfortunately, it is just one of the many other similar atrociously written textbooks which are yet to be identified and exposed. This is a classic case of profit-centeredness without regard to social accountability.
Widespread contractualization. In the name of profit, owners and administrators of several private schools commonly practice contractualization among their faculty members. Contractual employees unlike their regular/tenured counterparts are not entitled to fringe benefits in the bid of capitalist-educators to reduce the over-all cost of their business operation. Job insecurity demeans the ranks of the faculty members.
Copy-pasting culture. Over-dependence to the cyberspace has dramatically reduced the capability of students (even teachers) to undertake serious research. ‘Copy-pasting’ has even turned into a norm among some students.
Mcdonaldized education. The system, methodology, and content of education in the Philippines is Eurocentric, culturally insensitive, and non-reflective of the local milieu. This is based on the xenocentric (foreign-centered) premise that other culture or system is more superior than one’s own.
Poor regard for liberal art/education. Liberal education is intended to form a holistic individual equipped with communication, critical thinking, mathematical, creative, inter-personal and intra-personal skills. This explains why we also have Philosophy, Languages, Humanities, Natural Science, Social Science, and Physical Education in our college curriculum, and not only our major subjects. The curriculum is specifically designed to produce a total person, and not only a technical specialist. Unfortunately, the desired objective is not being met since liberal education is regarded only as a set of minor subjects. With the way these subjects are being handled (taking into account both content and methodology), students view the entire exercise as an unnecessary duplication of what they have already covered in high school. Equally alarming is the lack of enthusiasm and motivation exhibited by some professors to handle the subject especially if they believe that it has nothing to do with the course or area of specialization of their students (say, Art Appreciation for Accounting majors or Algebra for Creative Writing majors).
Further marginalization of the undersubscribed courses. In the name of profit and as a response to the dictates of the market forces, colleges and universities prefer to offer more courses in line with the health sciences like medical transcription, and care-giving. This is done at the expense of the already undersubscribed yet relevant courses like Area Studies, Pilipinolohiya (Philippine Studies), Development Studies, Philippine Arts, Art Studies, Community Development, Social Work, Islamic Studies, Clothing Technology, and Ceramics Engineering.
Prof. John N. Ponsaran is currently the co-chair of the Development Studies Program in the University of the Philippines Manila where he handles development studies and management courses in the graduate and undergraduate levels. He both earned his BA in Development Studies and Master in Public Management in UP. He has co-authored 5 textbooks in Social Studies and authored various articles about sustainable development, medical tourism and globalization.
