According to the human capital theory, the economic
development of a nation is a function of the quality of its education. In other
words: the more and better educated a people, the greater the chances of
economic development.
The modern world in which we live is often termed a
"knowledge society"; education and information have become production
factors potentially more valuable than labor and capital.
Thus, in a globalized setting, investment in human capital
has become a condition for international competitiveness.
The 1987 Constitution likewise guarantees the right to
education of every Filipino. It provided that, “The State shall protect and
promote the right of all citizens to quality education at all levels and shall
take appropriate steps to make education accessible to all.”
However, despite the legal mechanisms, budget prioritization
and increased access, Philippine education has been dogged with issues.
Among the issues that needs to be resolved but have improved
lately include the high dropout rates, high number of repeaters, low passing
grades, lack of particular language skills, failure to adequately respond and
address the needs of people with special needs, overcrowded classrooms and poor
teacher performances.
These problems in turn resulted to a considerable number of
illiterate Filipinos and out of school youths and graduates who are not
prepared for work
In this situation, logically, there exist only two strategic
alternatives: either, one increases the resources, which is easier said than
done considering the dramatic state of public finances, or one reduces the
number of students which is also a problem considering moral implications of
such.
This second alternative presupposes a systematic population
policy, aimed at reducing the number of births considerably.
But this, too, is easier said than done, considering the
politics in this country -- or to quote a Philippine Congressman: "Given
the very aggressive and active intervention of the Church
addressing the population problem is very hard to tackle."
"Head Crunch" is an essay written by Gideon Hope
Cachero. It was first published in the The
Teaching Teacher blog. The author is a political science student at
Saint Louis University in Baguio City (Philippines).