by CEGP-CORDILLERA
www.nordis.net

BAGUIO CITY — Different youth groups headed by Kabataan Partylist and National Union of Students of the Philippines held a noise barrage today calling for systematic reforms for quality and accesible education. They said that they are still holding outgoing President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo accountable for the chronic problems that our education system faces today.

“The Arroyo administration will leave behind an education system with a massive deficiency of teachers, classrooms, and other vital education resources amounting to Php 91.54 billion. Under PGMA, the students, teachers and parents experienced the worst tuition increases and the pitiable quality of our education”, said Finela Mejia, Chairperson of National Union of Students of the Philippines Baguio-Benguet chapter.

Mejia elaborated that PGMA legacy on education is more of a burden, citing how little her administration has spent on improving Philippine education. “It is a shame that despite her statements to make education a government priority, statistics show otherwise. Contrary to the Arroyo administration’s claims of enacting more education reforms than the other regimes before her, PGMA administration spent only 2.7 percent average of the gross domestic product (GDP) for education while Estrada and Ramos administration spent at least 3.1% GDP”. Therefore Arroyo’s 2.7% GDP translates to spending P6.85 pesos per Filipino per day on education while paying the equivalent of P22 on debt service.

In addition, Kabataan Partylist Cordillera Coordinator Kristoffer John Panem reported the number of out-of-school youth and children aged between 7-12 years old has reached its all-time peak of 4.69 million. He said “The Filipino youth under PGMA has suffered a traumatic education system. The average tuition rate increased by 89 percent since 2004. This resulted into an increase of drop outs and participation rate among elementary and high school students.” In the Cordillera alone, the Commission on Higher Education (Ched) reported that nine universities have increased their tuition by at least five percent for school year 2010-11.

With the tuition rate increasing every year, a tertiary student must spend at least Php22,000 pesos for tuition alone and there is no way that minimum wage earner parents can afford that without borrowing money with high interest rate or going abroad. 

According to the Alliance of Concerned Teachers just for this incoming school year there will be a shortage of 54,060 teachers, 4,538 principals, 816,291 seats. This will result into the worse situation of already jam-packed classrooms and very poor teacher-student ratio. This is just one of the many indicators that the Arroyo administration’s promise of promoting accessible and quality education has failed.”

In the case of private schools where students get less of what they pay, student leaders who are against yearly fee increases were not exempted from red tagging and red baiting. One reported incident was during a lecture in NSTP class in Saint Louis University last March 7, 2010, wherein a certain 2nd Lt Adriano dela Cruz Jr told the students that Mr. Joseph Oconner, ANAKBAYAN SLU spokesperson is a member of the New People’s Army (NPA) and he should not be recognized as a legitimate student leader. During that time, SLU is proposing a 7% increase in tuition and Oconner is one of the students condemning the increase. 

Cielo Marie Bayson, chairperson of College Editors Guild of the Philippines Cordillera said that student organizations fighting for quality and accessible education along with its active participation in battling corruption in the government, became easy targets of OBL II (Oplan Bantay Laya, a counter insurgency program of Arroyo government that hardly distinguishes armed combatants from civilians). “For nine years under PGMA, we have monitored numerous reports of military presence and harassment in universities here in the Cordillera particularly in Abra and Kalinga where military personnel and officers roam around the campuses in their full battle gear causing fear and paranoia among the students.”

Clearly, the Philippine education is in crisis and therefore poses a big challenge to the next administration. Representing the youth in congress, Kabataan Partylist’s Raymond Palatino is presenting the eight point education agenda wherein higher budget allocation and tuition freeze tops the list. “What the youth and the country needs is an ‘education president.’ one who will decisively implement concrete changes and who has the political will to instill fundamental educational reforms,” Palatino said. # nordis.net