Items like Computer are recycle PC from some of my friends and Business associates instead of discarded the old P3 or P4 machine, they decided to shipped it here and donated to Furao Gamu Eelementary school The items were shipped here using LBC box, Metro Box in Singapore or sometimes hand carry by our friends when they come to visit me.
Hope that help
ARTICLE BY BENJIE OLIVEROS
ANALYSIS
Bulatlat
Vol. VII, No. 27, August 12-18, 2007
Recent reports indicated that the Philippines is losing its
competitive edge in employment, its being one of the top English
speaking countries in Southeast Asia. Another report stated that only a
fraction of the demand for call center agents is being filled up as
only three to five percent of college graduates are able to pass the
requirements, mainly the ability to speak English with the proper
accent such as “‘ap-el” and not “epol.” The Arroyo government’s
response to this problem is to set-up training centers under the TESDA
or the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.
But the problem is deeper than the deterioration in the ability of the
ordinary Filipino to speak English. And the problem is much worse than
our inability to fill in the demand for call center agents. The problem
is rooted in the continuing deterioration of the country’s educational
system, which is made worse by the deregulation and privatization
policies of the Macapagal-Arroyo administration.
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) came up with a very good
paper issued last July 20, 2007 – which unfortunately has gone
unnoticed by the Arroyo government and even the media – entitled “The
Arroyo years: towards a lost decade for education?” The paper was
issued through its secretary-general Ms. France Castro, a true-blooded
public school teacher who rose from the ranks starting as a substitute
teacher and now a Master Teacher 2.
ACT came up with indicators, based on data from the Department of
Education (DepEd), to show that the Macapagal-Arroyo administration has
failed miserably in its obligation to provide access to universal
quality education. It stated that the Arroyo years have been
characterized by declining enrolments, reduced completion rates, and
dramatic increases in the number of drop-outs and out-of-school
children.
Indicators
ACT data showed a slowing down in the growth in enrolment in basic
education. From a rate of 1.98 percent from 1995-2002, the growth in
enrolment slowed down to an average of 0.97 percent. As it is, the 1.98
percent growth is already lagging behind the 2.3 percent population
growth. The further slowing down in enrolment growth rates means that
more and more children are not able to attend school.
And not only that, the drop-out rate is also increasing. In 2003, 66
out of 100 Grade 1 students graduate from elementary. In 2006, only 56
are able to complete elementary school. In 2001, 70 out of every 100
first year high school students complete their four years in high
school. In 2006, this dropped to 54 out of every 100.
A result of the slowing down in enrolment rates and the worsening
drop-out rates is the increase in the number of out-of-school children.
In 2001, there were approximately 1.87 million out-of-school children
with ages from 6-15 years old. In a matter of four years, in 2005, the
number of out-of-school children has reached a staggering 3.1 million.
And the quality of education is still way below standard.
Achievement rates of elementary and high school students in National
Achievement Tests remain far below the passing rate of 75 percent.
The achievement rates for elementary students has slightly improved
from school year (SY) 2000-2001 to SY 2005-2006 but are still far below
the passing rate: 53.66 percent in Math, 46.77 in Science, 54.05 in
English, 58.12 in Hekasi (Social Sciences), and 60.68 in Filipino.
The achievement rates for secondary students are worse and have even
worsened during the same period. The current rates are 47.82 percent in
Math, 37.98 in Science, 47.73 percent in English, 40.51 percent in
Filipino, and 47.62 percent in Araling Panlipunan (Social Sciences).
It is then not surprising that the Philippines ranked 41st in
Science and 42nd in Mathematics from among 45 countries by the Trends
in International Math and Science Survey.
Shortages
Notwithstanding the tirade by Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo against
the officer-in-charge of the Department of Education in June, 2006, the
shortages in classrooms, seats, textbooks, and teachers have worsened.
The shortage of 8,443 classrooms during SY 2001-2002 worsened to 57,930
during SY 2005-2006. The lack in 2,108,173 seats during SY 2001-2002
increased to 3.48 million during SY 2005-2006. The shortage of 24.22
million textbooks during SY 2003-2004 went up to 34.7 million the next
school year. And the 37,932 shortage in teachers during SY 2001-2002
worsened to 49,699 during SY 2005-2006.
The result is overcrowded classrooms exceeding 60 students per
class; a severe shortage in learning materials; shorter hours for
classes and teacher-student interaction; heavy teaching loads for
harassed and underpaid teachers; and an environment not at all
conducive to learning, not to mention the sore lack in teacher training.
Entry-level (Teacher 1) pay for teachers is at P10, 933 ($239 at an
exchange rate of $1=P45.74), way below the P17, 366 ($379) monthly
living wage set by the National Wages and Productivity Commission.
Worse, public school teachers are deprived of their benefits because it
is based on savings by the DepEd. And with the decreasing budget for
education, savings are hard to come by.
Decreasing budget
The shortages and deterioration in the quality of education can be
attributed to the decrease in the budget for education being allocated
by the Macapagal-Arroyo administration. The government has been
religiously implementing the “limited or zero growth” in government
spending recommended by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank
to tame the government deficit and ensure debt payments in the
aftermath of the Asian financial crisis. This was made worse by the
fiscal crisis which hit the Arroyo government in 2002. Since then, the
government has drastically cut its spending.
According to the Congressional Budget and Planning Office, “the
average annual growth rate of the DepEd’s budget in real terms from
2001-2006 has been negative 3.5 percent.” It also pointed out that “in
terms of share of the national budget, (the 2007) DepEd budget
represents one of the lowest at 11.96 percent since 1995.”
The decrease in budget allocation also affects access to basic and
secondary education. Public schools are not being given budgets for
Maintenance, Operating, and Other Expenses (MOOE) such as repairs and
purchases of furniture, fixtures and equipment, and even in paying for
the salaries of maintenance personnel. Thus, this is being shouldered
by parents in the form of fees and donations.
Tertiary education
If the Macapagal-Arroyo administration has been remiss in its
obligation to provide basic and secondary education to the Filipino
youth, it has totally turned its back in providing access to tertiary
education. Consistent with its deregulation and privatization thrusts,
it has been reducing its allocation for state universities and colleges
forcing the latter to increase its tuition and other fees.
The University of the Philippines implemented a 300 percent increase
in its tuition from P300 ($6.55) per unit to P1, 000 ($21.86) per unit.
Thus, the average tuition a UP student pays increased from P6, 000 to
P20, 000 ($218 to $437) per semester. Already, UP has been experiencing
an increase in its no-show rate which reflects the percentage of
passers of the UP College Admission Test (UPCAT) who did not enrol. As
it is, students from public schools, except those from science high
schools and pilot classes, are at a disadvantage because of the
competitive entrance exams considering the deteriorating quality of
public school education. With the new tuition rates, more and more
students from the poor majority who passed the UPCAT, would not be able
to enrol at UP.
If UP and other state colleges and universities are becoming
inaccessible, much more are the private schools. The DepEd has already
rescinded its memorandum limiting automatic tuition increases to the
annual inflation rate.
Poverty as the root cause
The decreasing government allocation for education is not the sole
reason, and the only accountability of the Macapagal-Arroyo
administration, for its failure to provide access to education to
majority of the Filipino people. Its economic policies of
liberalization, deregulation, and privatization which results in spikes
in prices and rates of basic goods, services, and utilities, and
increasing unemployment and underemployment leading to the worsening of
the poverty situation is the biggest reason for the decreasing
enrolment rates and increasing drop-out rates.
With around 65 million Filipinos or about 80 percent of the
population trying to survive on P96 ($2) or less per day, how can a
family afford the school uniforms, the transportation to and from
school, the expenses for school supplies and projects, the
miscellaneous expenses, and the food for the studying sibling? More
than this, with the worsening unemployment problem and poverty
situation, each member of the family is being expected to contribute to
the family income. Most, if not all, out-of-school children are on the
streets begging, selling cigarettes, candies, garlands, and assorted
foodstuffs or things, or doing odd jobs.
The wrong solution
The provision of more training centers by TESDA is not only a wrong
solution, it is at best a futile effort. More and more college
graduates are not being able to get jobs. Much less are the chances of
those who have only undergone vocational training.
The Marcos administration, during the 1970s has also tried the same
approach. It instituted the National College Entrance Examinations
(NCEE) to screen those who could enter college and to promote
vocational training. It established the National Manpower Youth Council
with the very same functions that TESDA has today.
It geared the educational system towards supplying cheap labor to
multinational corporations. It also promoted a labor export policy
supposedly as a temporary measure to mitigate the unemployment problem.
When all things failed, it tightened its grip to power and tried to
suppress the growing discontent and intensifying protests by attacking
the people and violating human rights with impunity.
Don’t all these sound familiar? Don’t you feel that we are in the
same situation all over again, only it has become worse? Well, the
Macapagal-Arroyo administration has a lot in common with the Marcos
dictatorship, not only in terms of policies but it is also
approximating the human rights record and the corruption scandals of
the Marcoses. No wonder it seems so easy for them to strike a deal with
the Marcos family. But if the Macapagal-Arroyo administration persists
in pursuing the same path as the Marcos dictatorship, it will also
share its fate.
Bulatlat
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