CHED and Aquino: Expanding the Miseducation of Filipinos

So what if K12 is being implemented in the Philippines? Will it lead to more productive, critical thinking empowered Filipinos? Or, will it just lead to more domestic helps that can be deployed overseas – who will send remittances so that SM’s Henry Sy can maintain being number one in the Philippines Forbes 40 richest Filipinos?

What’s the point in extending the years of being educated when the content of Philippines public education remains uncompetitive? Extending the number of years learning the same old concepts – using the same old methods of rote learning just leads to more zombies, cannon fodder for people power, warm bodies who will sell votes, and domestic helps in the Middle East and Hong Kong.

We have focused too much on “protecting” Filipino schools. Have we, however, “protected” the Filipino students or have we left them as prey for the operators of Filipino schools?

Remove the Middle Men

Don’t you find it amusing that the top professors of UP, AIM, Ateneo, De La Salle, and what not – are sent for schooling overseas – Harvard, Stanford, Cambridge, Oxford, and the like. Then these same “scholars” return to the Philippines and regurgitate the content in the Filipino schools.

Why should Filipino students settle for regurgitated content when they can get the content direct? The thing is – they can’t get the content directly, because the Philippine constitution restricts foreigners from owning schools in the Philippines – allegedly to “protect” Filipinos.

“Protect” Filipinos from what exactly? From “evil” foreign influences? Really? Let me tell you straight up buster – evil influences are not a monopoly of foreigners – Filipinos can be just as evil, scheming, and manipulating – you don’t have to go far, it’s just in your own backyard.

What’s not being said

The unsaid component of K-12 is that by extending the length of stay in the schools: 1) “protected” Filipino schools make more money from unprotected students; – and, 2) students are delayed from entering the job-scarce labor market of the Philippines.

These exposes a cocktail of interrelated challenges that have in its root – a flawed constitution that protects Filipino businesses at the expense of Filipino consumers. Think about it – should a consumer be protected from getting better service at lower prices? The notion is ABSURD!

Education is a service – not an entitlement

Education, just like any other market for services will be affected by the government regulations – in the form of preventing the increase of suppliers in the market. Note that CHED has routinely prevented the opening of degrees under the guise of preventing “over saturation”.

“Oversaturation” means the sectarian schools behind Bro Luistro are averse to facing competition – and instead of improving their course offerings and redesgining their service delivery mechanisms – these school operators have instead lobbied for restrictions – at students and taxpayers expense.

The better solution is to open the education market – allow foreign investors to own majority shares in locally registered companies that own and operate schools. The impact of this policy is to increase supplies and drive prices down for consumers.

It also reduces the need to allot more tax money for public schools and state universities – which also leads to a reduction in corruption because there is less tax money available for pilferage by CHED, Congress, and the vested interests.

Rethink “Public” Education

We need to rethink the fundamental assumptions about public education. Does public education mean that education needs to be funded by public funds? Or does it mean allowing the public to access education services in the manner which reflects their personal values and preferences?

The former ensures that incompetent government policy reverberates throughout the education market. The latter allows people to regain control of their education.

Lastly, allow me to address the myth that private schools are expensive – or if they are low cost the services are inferior – by providing a video from TED talks which shows how private schools are serving the poorest of the poor at costs which are lower than public schools – and with better outcomes.

Low Cost Private Schools – The Elephant in the Room

Seminal research in the slums and shanty towns of Asia and Africa shows not only the numbers of low-cost private schools around the world but why, how and by whom they are run and patronised. Dr. Pauline Dixon looks at parental choice, the comparison between government and low-cost private schools as well as innovative initiatives that are currently underway in India and Ghana such as vouchers and chains of private schools. The talk also considers what the wider world can learn from this market success story.

Stories such as those narrated by Pauline Dixon need to be celebrated. Government however will put these stories in a back burner because it highlights the monumental failure of government intervention in markets. As pointed out in an article in the Freeman Online

National governments are threatened by the existence of this counterrevolution in private education, for if they can’t get basic education right, then people might wonder: what can they do? Aid agencies might wonder whether they have been backing the wrong horse for decades. And development experts feel ideologically snubbed: they believe that the poor need aid channeled through government schools; they’re offended that instead, the poor seem to have their own ideas about how educational needs can best be provid­ed. But poor parents know what they are doing. They want the best for their children and know that private schools are the way forward. The question is: will anyone with power and influence listen to them?

Filipino students or consumers of education services deserve better or do they?

BongV has written 387 stories on this site.

BongV is the webmaster of Antipinoy.com.