Quality, Accessible, Relevant and Liberating Basic Education for All

by Leonor Magtolis Briones Secretary, Department of Education August 2016

All my life I have been exposed to the challenges of education in the Philippines. I come from a family of teachers. My parents, aunts and uncles, brother and sisters, nephews, nieces and even grandchildren are teachers. I have lived through the travails of teachers -- low pay, long hours of work, huge debts, and physical difficulties. As an elementary school pupil, I have experienced walking long distances to and from school and sitting in stifling, overcrowded classrooms as I struggled to learn.

I did not apply for the position of Secretary of Education. I am grateful to President Duterte for appointing me to the post. I humbly accept the opportunity to serve the country, to contribute to reforms, and to put into practice my lifetime public advocacies, as I have done in the past in various capacities both inside and outside of government.

Heading the Department of Education is a huge challenge and responsibility. I could say that it is easily the biggest yet, even in my long years of public life as an administrator, academic, educator, executive official, and social activist.

The Department is the biggest bureaucracy in Philippine government. Presently, it has 763,538 authorized plantilla positions, of which 674,613 are teaching positions, 61,343 are technical positions, 25,692 are for administrative support, 1,359 are management and supervisory, and 531 are third level or career executive service positions. Of the total authorized plantilla items, 711,785 positions or 93 percent are filled.

The Department manages the highest budget allocation among all the government line agencies. For 2016, the enacted budget for the Department totals 433.38 billion pesos. The next highest would be the Department of Public Works and Highways, with an enacted budget of 397.11 billion pesos. After these two, the next highest will be at levels of less than 130 billion pesos.

With the Department's large bureaucracy and huge share in the budget pie, public education constitutes the backbone of basic education. Based on the Department’s data, the 20,907,407 enrolment in public schools from Kindergarten to Junior High School in 2015 comprises 87 percent of the 23,816,548 combined enrolment in public and private schools.

The government efforts to improve education have produced gains. The Philippine Education for All 2015 National Review, for example, reports gains across the goals being monitored (Early childhood care and education; Universal primary/basic education; Learning and life skills for youth and adults; Adult literacy; Gender parity and equality; and Quality of education). However, it is also undeniable that these efforts still leave a lot of gaps. The same review points out that "the upward movements have been too slow to make it to target by 2015".

Aware of the challenges of improving the education sector, I have been involved in decades-long campaigns to advance the cause of education. As President of Freedom from Debt Coalition, I contributed to the campaign to reduce the crushing debt burden of the country to free more resources for education and social development. Since its creation in 2006, the Alternative Budget Initiative led by Social Watch Philippines (SWP), of which I was a convenor, has always advocated for higher budget allocations for education. Every year, SWP has successfully convinced the legislature to increase budget allocations for education.

As Secretary of the Department, I am now given the rare privilege to seek and work out solutions from the inside. As one of my first acts as Secretary, I am setting out this declaration of vision and agenda through which path I would endeavor to lead the Department.

This vision and agenda is not really a matter of discretion on my part. It is guided by the education mandates from no less than the Philippine Constitution. It is also circumscribed by the international commitments that our country adheres to, such as the Sustainable Development Goals 2030. It also builds on the gains and lessons from the programs of past administrations, particularly from the strong performance of my immediate predecessor. But certainly, it also embodies a number of my ideas that I hope can contribute positively to our common aspirations for the continuing progress of our basic education.

This declaration is by no means in final form. I regard it as a working and consultation draft that I am sharing with all concerned, both within and outside the department, for feedback and discussion. It will be a living document that will be nourished and further shaped by the inputs and contribution of all.