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Corruption in DepEd is a major challenge for

quino

June 14, 2010 3:13pm

When the agency that has the main responsibility for educating the youth is

notorious for setting a bad example, what’s an incoming president to do?

President-elect Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III has promised to end the systemic

corruption that has corroded many Philippine institutions, one of them the

Department of Education (DepEd). For some quarters, improving the state of the

basic education system would be a good start.

"The problem with the Arroyo administration is that it is rooted in perceptions of

corruption and bad governance. Even the programs that are meant to help the

poor were in fact utilized in the context of patronage," says former Education

Secretary Butch Abad.

There was the so-called noodle scam (/news/story/160881/deped-suspends-

contract-of-supplier-of-overpriced-noodles) involving a contract awarded by

DepEd in 2007 to a supplier that sold noodles at a staggering P18 per pack when

the market price was only P4.50.

Before that, there was the textbook scam (http://www.pcij.org/blog/?p=1423), with

whistleblower Antonio Go alleging that the numerous errors in textbooks used in

public schools resulted from an allegedly “secretive" evaluation process that

“breeds graft and corruption."

NEWS

Tags: education, deped, noynoyaquino By JAM SISANTE, GMANews.TV

NEWS

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Noynoy's RH policy in schools

Noynoy reiterated in his first ever press

conference as president-elect last June 9

that he supports reproductive health

through responsible parenthood.

"Walang karapatan ang estado para

magdeklara [na] ganito karami ang anak

ninyo o kung paano ang paraan ng pagpa-

plano ng pamilya (The state has no right to

dictate the number of children couples can

have or how they will plan their family),"

Noynoy said.

But it remains unclear if he will support

the incorporation of a more

comprehensive RH education in the

curriculum of elementary students, as

proposed in the controversial RH bill that

was filed in the 14th Congress.

Luz says the Aquino administration would

review the existing elementary courses

that tackle human sexuality and "how

biological changes impact on their

emotional and psychological growth and

maturity."

"There is a DepED curriculum on this and it

E-Net Philippines, a consortium of education advocates, had also opposed Arroyo

projects (/news/story/111257/Poverty-hunger-prevent-Filipino-kids-from-getting-

basic-education) like the Food-for-School program which “has become a strategy

for patronage" as local government units, along with the DepEd, are the ones who

select beneficiaries.

Abad, who served as the Liberal Party campaign

manager in the May 10 elections, says Mrs. Arroyo

was "driven by the fight for political survival" so

she pandered to the corruption of some politicians

instead of ensuring that they implement education

programs honestly.

But Abad believes that once Noynoy—who had a

clean slate in his nine years as congressman and

three as senator—takes over, Filipinos can expect

him to ensure that the education department will

not be a breeding ground for corruption.

"In the case of Noynoy Aquino, it would be in the

context of good governance and empowerment. Ithink that's a dramatic departure from the Arroyo

administration's framework," he says.

Abad was one of the Cabinet secretaries who

resigned from President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s

government in 2005 at the height of the Hello Garci

scandal that put in doubt the legitimacy of her

victory in the 2004 elections.

The legacy of his iconic parents, the martyred

Benigno Aquino Jr. and former president Corazon

Aquino, and a vigorous anti-corruption platform

swept Noynoy to victory in the May 10 polls. Now

that he's president-elect, many are expecting


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will certainly be looked at and reviewed

regularly, just as all subjects should be. It is

already a subject in the system. The key is

to teach it well so that children will have a

positive view of human sexuality and of

themselves as persons," says Luz.

Abad told GMANews.TV that Noynoy's

specific plans on RH education would be

made clearer once Noynoy has named his

education secretary. – JLS, GMANews.TV

BESRA FOR BEGINNERS

If the incoming Aquino

administration is serious in

overhauling the education sector, it

doesn’t have to look far or reinvent

the wheel. In 2005, the DepEd

conceptualized the Basic Education

Sector Reform Agenda (BESRA),

which includes the proposal to add

two more years to the elementary

and secondary school cycle.

Educators have lauded BESRA, an

initiative based on extensive

consultations and a combination of

best practices in different schools, as

a comprehensive and progressive

program of DepEd. Its objectives

are:

1. Universal adult functional literacy

2. Universal school participation and

elimination of drop-outs

3. Universal completion of the full

cycle of basic education schooling

with satisfactory achievement levels

4. Total community commitment to

attainment of basic education

competencies for all.

Aquino to fulfill his campaign promises and ensure

that none of the corruption scandals during the

Arroyo administration will happen during his term.

12-year basic education

Noynoy and his

education reform

team won’t have it

easy. Data from DepEd

show that out of 100

children who enter

Grade 1, only 43 finish high school, only 23 pursue

college or vocational courses, and only 14 are able tofinish tertiary education.

With nearly half of high school graduates choosing to

work rather than pursue higher education, Aquino is

looking at re-introducing technical-vocational

education in public high schools "to better link

schooling to local industry needs and employment."

But his foremost plan for basic education is ambitious:

to expand the duration of formal schooling from the

current 10 years (six for elementary and four for high

school) to the global standard of 12 years starting

school year 2011-2012.

"We need to add two years to our basic education

cycle to catch up with the rest of the world," Aquino

says.

The plan is still "subject to fine-tuning," says former

Education Undersecretary Juan Miguel Luz

(/news/story/91422/govt-service-losing-few-good-

men-women), who currently sits as the vice president


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Continue reading here

(/news/story/193703/besra-for-

beginners)

for policy and research of the Liberal Party think-tank

National Institute for Policy Studies.

A possible division is Grades 1 to 7 for elementary,

Grades 8 to 10 for high school, and Grades 11 to 12 for senior high school in

preparation for college.

"What's most important is that Grade 1-12 be seamless and that the curriculum

have no gaps between the elementary school and high school levels," Luz tells

GMANews.TV in an email. "The rest of the world has added more years of formal

basic education and this has helped them build stronger economies."

The proposal to add more years to education is nothing new, says Raymond

Palatino, the representative of youth party-list Kabataan in Congress.

Former president Joseph Estrada had the pre-baccalaureate program, which

proposed an additional year for high school, while President Arroyo introduced the

optional one-year Bridge program for incoming high school students who scored

low in the High School Readiness Test (HSRT) for English, Math, and Science.

In 2005, the DepEd conceptualized the Basic Education Sector Reform Agenda

(BESRA) in response to the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of universal primary schooling by 2015. The BESRA also proposes two additional

years to basic education.

Additional school years, however, were never made mandatory due to opposition

from some groups and budgetary constraints.

Palatino says, "All presidents, at the beginning of their terms, want to add one or

two years in elementary or high school. The problem: funds. Lack of funds. Where

will the new president source the funds?"

ACT Teachers party-list president Antonio Tinio, who taught the P.I. 100 (Rizal's life

and works) course at the University of the Philippines for 18 years before he

resigned last semester to prepare for his work as incoming congressman

representing his group, says Aquino should prioritize lifting the quality of


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Ritchie, mother of five, can barely afford to send four of

her kids to school even though she doesn't have to pay

tuition

education over quantity.

"Yung kasalukuyang sampung taon nga natin ng basic education hindi nai -deliver

nang maayos ng gobyerno," laments Tinio in a phone interview. “Sa ganyang

kalagayan pano naman natin pag-uusapan pa yung pagdagdag ng dalawa pang

taon? "

A mother of five, 33-year-old Ritchie Escubido,

says she can barely make ends meet as she is

sending four of her kids—aged 13, 11, 8 and 5—

to school even though she’s jobless and her

husband works as a finishing carpenter on an

irregular basis.

"Mahirap ," she says. "Kung dadagdagan pa,

lalo pang mahirap ."

Big Spender

Expanding the basic education system to 12 years will definitely cost a lot.

Aquino's education team admits that an investment of close to P100 billion, or P20billion a year from 2011 to 2017, will be needed to build additional schools and

classrooms, hire more teachers, buy more textbooks and equipment, and pay for

operating expenses.

These figures do not even include the necessary funding for the additional one

year of universal pre-schooling that Aquino also wants to implement during his

term. According to his team's own estimate, this could cost P9.6 to P11.1 billion a

year.

"Families will have to bear additional costs whether in public or private schools.

The real argument though should be that the additional two years of basic

education/schooling should translate into better chances at a good university

education or work," says Luz.


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