Top education officials, legislators, civic leaders meet on PH education woes

MANILA, Philippines—Education leaders, lawmakers, business leaders and other education stakeholders gathered Wednesday at the Makati central business district in a national forum aimed at finding solutions to perennial woes in basic education, tertiary and technical-vocational training.

Education Secretary Armin Luistro, Commission on Higher Education Chair Patricia Licuanan and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority Executive Director Joel Villanueva were expected to present a situation report on the state of Philippine education before stakeholders at the forum—the first of its kind according to officials—at the Makati Shangri-La hotel.

The officials were also expected to focus discussions on the proposed K+12 (Kindergarten plus 12 years), the flagship education program of the Aquino administration that aims to produce high school graduates prepared for work or college through the addition of two more years to the basic education course.

“Our education summit will focus on upgrading solutions and transforming education in the three areas (basic education, tertiary, technical-vocational). The general sentiment in the past has been that education has been in crisis, problems continue year after year and it’s the same all over again,” Luistro said at a press conference Wednesday before the forum started.

“While we do not guarantee that all problems will be solved, we know what the problems are. We are doing something about them, we are intent that solutions will not only be immediate but will have long-term effects,” he added.

K+12 consultations started soon after the plan was announced in October. Luistro said further discussions will be held at the grassroots level to better explain the program to teachers and students.

Saying 12 or more years of education is already available in public schools, Luistro offered a rebuttal to criticism that the program is “anti-poor” as it will mean additional costs for poor families.

“It’s really because our basic (public) education is not at par with the best Philippine schools. Some critics say this is anti-poor but what the President wants is to give public school students the same opportunities, to level the playing field,” he said.

Villanueva said the forum aims to also come up with mechanisms for the three education agencies to better coordinate their programs, among them the K+12 proposal

“The major thing we want to accomplish is that we will be able to institutionalize a mechanism to harmonize policy. The good thing that’s happening right now is that the three education agencies are talking,” said Villanueva.