New book tracks ‘fault lines’ in PH education system

MANILA, Philippines—In hopes of averting a catastrophe in the education system, a former education secretary has charted what she calls “fault lines” in education policy, drawing from her experience working under five Philippine presidents.

In her 431-page book “The Nation’s Journey to Greatness: Looking Beyond Five Decades of Philippine Education,” former Education Secretary Mona Valisno asks: “Where we have gone wrong, or why are we unable to hit the target?”

Valisno also tackles the problems that will be caused by the recent addition of two more years of basic schooling (K+12) to the curriculum: That of having two transitory years when no new freshmen will be entering college.

To be launched on Feb. 22, the book will be sold at P350, with part of the proceeds going to scholarships for deserving students.  The book was published by the Private Education Association Committee chaired by Education Secretary Armin Luistro.

“In this book, fault lines or pressure points refer to the variables or factors that are constantly trembling underneath the surface and will eventually trigger changes or shifts in the quality of education in the country,” Valisno said in the book’s introduction.

Valisno, who worked in the education sector under Presidents Ferdinand Marcos, Corazon Aquino, Fidel Ramos, Joseph Estrada and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, gives her frank assessment of the state of Philippine education in her book.

“I used fault lines as I consider the country’s quality of education to be tearing apart and, unless the government does something drastic to immediately arrest the problems, the country may experience damage that will take many years to undo or, worse, may even be irreversible,” said Valisno.

She warned that the fault lines were “so closely intertwined” that if one shifts, “they produce tremors, earthquakes and even tsunamis that would wipe out a country’s efforts towards development.”

In his foreword, Luistro called the book “an important resource for those who want to gain insights from an insider” on the evolution of the Philippine education system.