FOR A long time, our education standards have not obtained unqualified support from international organizations, such as the United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Indeed, we have received criticism from UNESCO and others. The criticism asserts that the education attainment of our students lags behind that which is achieved by students from other countries.
We have taken the criticisms seriously and have endeavored to seek ways in which we can become more globally competitive than hitherto.
One such way is for us to improve the quality of teacher education.
Last month, President Duterte signed a law that seeks to make the sought-after improvement. This law, Republic Act (RA) 11713, is also known as the Excellence in Teacher Education Act.
It was put forward by Congress, especially a number of high-profile Senators, including Senator Leila de Lima.
The law strengthens the Teacher Education Council and establishes a scholarship for students in the teacher education program.
It also institutionalizes the National Educators’ Academy of the Philippines to provide quality professional development programs on teacher education to in-service teachers, school leaders and others in all public and private basic education institutions.
Will it make a difference?
I believe it will.
It is vital, however, that the incoming Congress (those taking office from 1 July) follows through. Congressional time needs to be allocated so that desired improvements are implemented.
The composition of the incoming Department of Education (DepEd) is crucial.
Other stakeholders, which includes all of us, also need to monitor actively the consequences of the Act’s passage.
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What will happen to Education after the new administration takes office?
The vital aspect is financial. The amount spent on education, already P800 billion for 2022, will surely breach the P1 trillion mark by 2024.
We need to discuss education costs in the context of the increasingly difficult National economy.
Of necessity, our debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio rose from around 40 percent in 2019 to just over 60 percent now. For a developing country, 60 percent is not unacceptable but it is clear that, from an economic point of view, we cannot allow this proportion to rise, unchecked, in the years to come.
Education is a real problem. For this year, we have kept education costs down but only because our teachers did not receive promised pay rises. 2023 will be a challenging year. Teachers will be seeking a rise of at least P10,000 per month in order to regain parity with our police officers.
Will this happen?
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The problem of constraining our debt to GDP ratio is profound. The current administration did excellent work in not allowing our indebtedness to explode, whilst at the same, ensuring that we did not suffer unduly from the pandemic.
Inevitably, taxes will rise. I hope that direct taxes (our income tax) will be curtailed but that indirect taxes, for example Value Added Tax (VAT) will have to rise, perhaps to 15 percent.
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Our education sector will be at the forefront of our economic policy.
By 2024, over 30 million students will attend our schools.
Can we control expenses but, at the same time, improve our standard of education?
This is a real challenge./PN
