Status of Education in the Philippines
Education in the Philippines began in 1898 when English was determined to be the language of instruction and the first public school system was established. In 1908 the University of the Philippines was chartered as the nations first comprehensive public university along with other public universities and colleges. This is also when public education through grade seven began to be funded by the government and was free to all citizens. The success of education varies among the country. In Manila nearly 100% of students finish primary school but in Mindanao and Eastern Visayas less than 30% finish. Compared to the international mean of math, science and reading, children 9 to 14 fall two standard deviations below the mean. Youth literacy has also fallen from 1990 to 2004 going from 97.3% to 95.1%. The structure of education in the Philippines follows a formal system with six years of elementary, four years of secondary, and four years of higher education to gain a bachelor degree. The language of instruction now includes English, Pilipino (Tagalog), and the official language of the area (Clark, 2009).
Primary education in the Philippines is six years in length, four years of primary learning and two years of intermediate learning. The typical age of enrollment is six or seven. The curriculum includes language arts, math, health and science. Makabayan learning is an environment for holistic learning to develop a healthy personal and national self-identity. The makabayan subjects taught in grades one through three are civics and culture. The subjects taught in grades four to six are music, arts, physical education, home economics, livelihood, and social studies. When students successfully finish grades one through six they receive a Certificate of Graduation (Clark, 2009).
Secondary education consists of more private schools than the primary level of education. Forty-six percent of the schools are private with twenty-one percent of all high school students enrolled. The two main types of secondary education are general and vocational. Then a small percent of students who excel in science in primary school move onto a science focused secondary school. General secondary school curriculum consists of communication arts, social studies, math, science and technology, youth development training, and practical arts. Vocational secondary education consists of two years where the students focus on the general vocational areas in which they are interested in and then 2 years of specializing in discipline or vocation within the area. The Philippine Science High School System is a part of the Philippine Department of Science and Technology with nine regional campuses. The entrance examination is the PSHS System National Competitive Exam. The curriculum consists of the normal general secondary courses along with advanced science and math classes. When leaving a science high school the student receives a diploma, certificate of graduation, and a permanent record or Form 137-A (Clark, 2009).
Students in the Philippines can obtain a higher education either by going to a university or a non-university. Universities admission requirements are similar to those of the United States. The main admission examinations are the National Secondary Achievement Test (NSAT) taken during the fourth year of secondary school, College Scholastic Aptitude Test (CSAT), and Admission Test for Colleges and Universities (ATCU). Programs and degrees are offered in three stages. I the first stage a student can receive a bachelors degree in four years, an associates degree in two years, and a Doctor of Dental Medicine or Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in six years. In stage two a students can obtain a Master of Art/Science degree, Doctor of Medicine degree, or a Bachelor of Laws degree. To receive a Master of Art/Science degree one must complete two years of full-time study and a minor thesis on top of a bachelor degree. A Doctor of Medicine degree requires a student to study medical sciences for two years, two years of clinical rotation, one year of internship, a licensing exam, three to five years of residency for specialization, and pass the National Medical Admission Test (NMAT). A Bachelor of Laws requires four years after the first degree and a bar examination by the Supreme Court. The third stage is people wanting a degree in Doctor of Philosophy. This entails two to three years of full-time study beyond a Masters degree. Finally, a non-university is for people who want to go into a technical or vocational program and will come out with a diploma, associate, graduate, or craftsman degree (Clark, 2009).
To become a teacher one must obtain one of the following four-year degrees. A pre-school teacher needs six units of pre-primary education. An elementary teacher needs a bachelor degree in elementary education. A secondary teacher requires a bachelor degree in secondary education (Clark, 2009).
To become a teacher one must obtain one of the following four-year degrees. A pre-school teacher needs six units of pre-primary education. An elementary teacher needs a bachelor degree in elementary education. A secondary teacher requires a bachelor degree in secondary education (Clark, 2009).
Overall, the Philippine education structure is similar to that of the United States. Although, the number of years of required formal schooling in the Philippines is the shortest in the world. After going through a Spanish, American, and Japanese ruling period the Philippines has come out with a stable school system that provides the opportunity for education to all citizens. The Department of Education is working towards reaching the goals of The Global Education First to put every child in school, improve quality of learning, and foster global citizenship (UN Global Education First Initiative, 2014).
Sources
Clark, N. (2009, January). Education in the philippines. Retrieved from http://www.wes.org/ewenr/09jan/practical.htm
UN Global Education First Initiative. (2014). About the global education first initiative. Retrieved from http://www.globaleducationfirst.org/about.html
UN Global Education First Initiative. (2014). About the global education first initiative. Retrieved from http://www.globaleducationfirst.org/about.html
Economic System
- What will be produced with your country’s resources?
- The resources are used as tools, food, and ingredients for food. Many different resources can be found from the ocean, in the ground from minerals, from the major crops that grow around the volcanic area, and through the many unique floras found on the islands.
- How will these goods be produced?
- Ocean: the ocean produces a variety of marine life and materials that are valuable to the country’s people and others around the world. There are 65 species of the 2,400 available in the Filipino waters that have solid commercial value.
- Minerals: nickel is the most abundant deposit in the Philippines but iron and copper are also present in significant amounts.
- Major Crops: the Central Luzon, Cagayan Valley and Negros are the nation’s primary sources for main crops such as rice, corn, sugarcane, abaca, and tobacco. Rice and corn are used domestically but the rest are used as major export items along with pineapples and bananas.
- Floras: the tropical islands have more than 2,000 species of plants and several are unique to only the Philippines. These plants are used as an important natural resource as ingredients in commercially exported products.
- Who will use these goods? Will these goods be exported?
- The Filipino people benefit from these goods but a lot of the resources can be exported out to other countries. Crabs, seaweed, and pearls found in the oceans are exported as natural resources. Metals such as nickel, copper, and iron can be exported. Sugarcane, abaca, tobacco, pineapples, and bananas are large export items in the Philippines for major crops. Then many natural floras are exported to be used as ingredients in other countries.
The population below poverty line is 26.5% with an unemployment rate of 7.4%. The AQUINO administration has been working to boost budgets for education, health, cash transfers to the poor, and other social spending programs which will help the population in poverty decrease because the unemployment rate will hopefully go down.
The Philippines have few but strong resources to be exported. The export commodities are semiconductors and electronic products, transport equipment, garments, copper products, petroleum products, coconut oil, and fruits. Their export partners are Japan, U.S., China, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Thailand. With these exports they are able to stay sturdy with economics and weather financial downturns better than its regional peers. This is also mainly due to minimal exposure to troubled international securities, lower dependence on exports, and relatively resilient domestic consumption.
The GDP per capita in the Philippines is $4,700. Compared to other countries on average the GDP in the Philippines is slightly higher which means there is more money to be spent on improving the lives on the people in the nation. Right now the current government and administration is focusing on improving the lives of the people by putting more money towards education and health care. At this point, a majority of the CDP is used as household consumption (72.6%).