With young people around, expect wit, creativity, spontaneity, laughter, and boundless energy in the air. Such was the atmosphere during last Saturday’s edition of dyRC’s “Hagit sa Kinaiyahan” program which tackled education, environmental protection and the youth. It is undoubtedly a privilege to have the opportunity to share life’s experience and learning with our vibrant youth.
Stalwarts from two organizations allied with Freedom From Debt Coalition, namely, Ruben Josol of Youth Against Debt (Kabatan-onan Kontra sa Utang) and Teody Navea of Sanlakas, provided interesting insights on the role and engagements of the youth in governance.
Paolo Saberon, a University of Cebu graduate who was an outstanding student leader and co-founder of the award-winning Cebuano Youth Ambassadors (CYA) managed to join the discussion amid his group’s feverish preparation for the incoming Youth Congress to be held in Cebu next month. CYA is behind the BasuraEskwela Project, which enabled children to go to school from funds raised in making bags and wallets out of tarpaulin materials. Its life changing accomplishments merited an award as one of the Ten Outstanding Youth Organizations (TAYO) in 2012.
YAD’s Josol laments the historical lack of prioritization by government, including local government units, of education.
Access to quality education is a basic human right. The State commits through the Constitution to prioritize “education, science and technology, arts, culture, and sports to foster patriotism and nationalism, accelerate social progress, and promote total human liberation and development.”
The benefits of public spending on education are immense. It is generally acknowledged as a way out of poverty in a country where so many are living way below decent standards of living. As the website of the European Commission explained, “Expenditure on education may help foster economic growth, enhance productivity, contribute to people’s personal and social development, and help reduce social inequalities.”
Yet, funding for classrooms, teachers, books and other requirements have not been given the top-notch prioritization it deserves.
According to Social Watch Philippines (www.socialwatchphilippines.org/images2/abi2012_educ.pdf), we are still “catching up from years of neglect and mismanagement of the education sector, and remain far from the desirable level of public investment in education, thus keeping the Philippines as among the lowest education spender in Asia and the rest of the world. The country’s spending level is below the East Asian regional average of 3.6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and South Asia’s average of 3.8 percent. When classified per each country’s income categories, the spending level of the Philippines (a middle-income country) on education was even lower than the median (3.9 percent of GDP) expenditure of belonging to the lowest income group.”
According to the “State of Philippine Education” presentation of Education Secretary Armin Luistro before the members of the Philippine Business for Education in 2012, the Department of Education (DepEd) budget was only 2.1 percent of the total gross domestic product (GDP) in 2011. It dipped considerably after 1998, compared to 1997 and 1998 when it had a 3.2-percent allocation.
This is way below the recommended percentage of the GDP on education. As I mentioned in my column on June 16, 2008, our allocation for education is below the accepted international standard as endorsed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco), setting the education expenditure of developing countries at six percent of the gross national product (GNP).
It is true, however, that the Aquino administration has considerably increased the allocation for education. For this year’s P2.006 trillion national budget, DepEd gets P293.32 billion, an increase from P238.8 billion, in 2012. This will certainly help in hiring more teachers and constructing and rehabilitating classrooms, especially those damaged by typhoons.
But for YAD and other concerned stakeholders, the allocation is still below the international standard. YAD’s “Six will Fix!” campaign is a call for an automatic appropriation law for education pegged at 6 percent of the GNP, at the very least, as prescribed by the Delors Commission of the Unesco.
A valid proposal indeed if we truly care for our children and their future.
If we are automatically appropriating for our national debt and for the internal revenue allotment for local government units, why is public funding for Education, which should be assigned “ the highest budgetary priority” left to the merciless and changing winds of negotiation and accommodation in Congress?
Likewise, LGUs need to be more participatory, transparent and accountable in the use of the Special Education Fund and not make it the perceived domain of the mayor or the governor.
We must consider likewise that more school buildings had been left damaged by typhoons that left students without decent classrooms and destroyed books and materials. Thus, funds should be allocated for disasters and other contingencies that affect school facilities.
Moreover, the practice of using classrooms as evacuation centers should already stop. We are depriving school children of their right to education for each day that we are using the school facilities to house the evacuees. LGUs must prioritize and creatively design evacuation centers from their existing facilities such as gyms and open spaces, in partnership with constituents.
The foregoing are among the reasons why RA 10121, the DRRM Law, must be implemented now.
Everyone’s help is needed to give the quality of education that our children deserve, especially in this era of disasters and displacements.
Mahatma Gandhi articulated it so well: “Action expresses priorities.”