Filipino students hurt by overcrowding, underfunding

MANILA, July 27: From overcrowded classrooms with children studying in shifts to a shortage of books and a weak grasp of English, mathematics and science, the education system in the Philippines is struggling to get a passing grade.

With a fast-growing population and heavy debt burden, the Southeast Asian nation is seeing one of its strongest comparative advantages -- its educated, English-speaking workforce -- slip away as many of its neighbours spend more on schooling.

''No wonder our best teachers are leaving in droves for jobs overseas,'' columnist Ana Marie Pamintuan wrote in the Philippine Star newspaper as the new school year began. ''If they're going to do hard labour, they might as well be paid well for it.'' Disparities in the quality of education reflect the wide gap between the wealthy minority and the impoverished masses.

Rural schools often must make do without computers, steady electricity or even desks, while the rich can send their children to private institutions and then top universities.

The Roman Catholic church, which plays an influential role in politics and social policy, runs schools of its own and weighs in strongly on issues such as morality and population management.

Bishops recently marshalled opposition to a pilot programme to teach reproductive health to students, saying it was sex education in disguise and would encourage promiscuity.

Santa Elena High School in Marikina City, east of Manila, is a typical state-run institution with an average class size of 65 and textbooks that cover only about half the curriculum, forcing pupils to buy extra materials that can strain family finances.

''The preparation of students in elementary for high school is sometimes not enough. It is becoming a chronic problem,'' said Elizalde Cena, the principal of Santa Elena.

''The textbooks are not one to one, and what the Department of Education gives us are obsolete.'' Test scores bear out the impact of the lack of investment by a government that uses about a third of its annual budget to pay interest on its debts.

Just one in five 12 year olds scored the mastery level of 75 per cent in maths, science, social studies, English and the Filipino language in the 2004/05 school year, a recent report by the National Statistical Coordination Board showed.

For those in the last year of high school, the numbers were worse with only one in 200 meeting the benchmark.

''For decades, the Philippines has been acclaimed as one of the most highly educated countries,'' the World Bank said in late June when it approved a 200 million dollar loan to improve education.

''But in recent years, national and international tests have shown that its human capital is slowly eroding.'' The Philippines, seeking to diversify its heavy reliance on remittances from overseas workers and exports of electronics and farm goods, competes heavily with the likes of India for jobs and investment in call centres and other business support services.

Call centres swoop in to recruit many of the top students with higher salaries and steadier hours than usually available to young workers. But the companies still put the graduates through training programmes to polish their English and other skills.

With 8 million Filipinos working abroad as nurses, nannies, engineers, sailors and IT professionals, the country is also suffering from shortages in medicine, education and other fields as many of the best and brightest leave in search of better pay.

''WE CAN'T CATCH UP''

Figures from the World Bank show education spending by the Philippines was equal to 3.2 per cent of gross domestic product in 2004, far higher than Indonesia's 0.9 per cent but well below Malaysia's 8 per cent and Thailand's 4.2 per cent.

For developed nations, Japan spent 3.7 per cent of GDP, the United States 5.9 per cent and Britain 5.5 per cent.

The incoming education secretary, Jesli Lapus, a congressman and former banker, has vowed to restore English as the language of instruction and strengthen the ''technical orientation'' of high school students to make education more ''market-driven''.

But with a budget of less than 2 billion dollar this year, he faces a big challenge to build schools, buy books and give raises to teachers who earn as little as 3,130 dollar per year.

''Our student population grows at an average rate of 2.7 per cent, while the education budget grows only at about 2 per cent,'' Lapus said recently. ''We can't catch up with backlogs with inflation rates also rising.'' Erico Habijan, the principal of Malanday Elementary School in Marikina City, said his mission was to ensure there were no illiterate members of the community but that class sizes of 50 and above made it difficult to give enough attention to pupils.

''When I meet with the parents, I tell them 'Can you please try to control the number of your children. God's blessings will not just drop from heaven for your family''' said Habijan.

John Carlo Odato, 15, feels the effects of overcrowding every day when he wakes up before 5 o'clock to get ready for class at Pateros National High School in Manila, where the 4,700 students are split into shifts starting at 6:15 a.m. and just after noon.

Despite the rotation to free up space, there are still 51 other pupils in his class.

Odato wants to study Mass Communications at university next year and dreams of becoming a television newscaster, even though he is tentative and shy with his spoken English.

''I don't have enough skills now,'' he said. ''But I hope when I graduate I will.''

REUTERS