Investment Wise: Which Deserves to Receive More? Higher or Basic Education Sector

By Gilbert M. Forbes

DepEd Quezon, CALABARZON

Student activists from State Colleges and Universities (SUC’s) are crying a foul over what they say are budgetary cuts that the national government has slashed from their annual budget.  Commission on Higher Education on the other hand is saying the reverse otherwise. CHED Commissioner Patricia B. Licuanan explained that, instead of cuts, the budget actually increased by 10%.

Photo courtesy of google search.  Students while protesting budget cuts for SUC's

Collectively, SUCs have a student population of approximately 865,000 in 2009, which means that every student is subsidized by an average of PHP 24,000 per school year. Each Filipino family contributes PHP 1,185 a year to run these schools through their tax payments.  Public Basic Education on the other hand receives only PHP8,000 per student or only a meager 1/3 of their tertiary counterparts.  SUC’s have a total budget of PHP21,717,421,000 for less than a million students while DepED with PHP207,000,000,000 for more than 20 million student having a participation rate of only around 87% in 2009.  Aside from the yearly budget SUC’s received, quite a number of its students also receive scholarship grants either from politicians, private individuals, NGO’s and government agencies such as CHED and DOST.  Their basic education counterparts have none except for some instances.  SUC's also earn from rental of vacant spaces, stores, services, etc., which accordingly could be summed at around Php24 billion.  It's more than enough to finance their annual MOOE needs.

This gives us a clear picture of how disparity exists considering that both have a different degree of importance.  Of course, basic education sector, particularly those on the level where functional literacy is being developed should be the priority.  It should be where more investment from the government is needed.  No doubt about it.  Failure to do so will really be futile for the economy and the country’s continuing quest to eradicate poverty.

Studies have pointed out that for a person to be literate for the rest of his life, he should have reached at least level three reading proficiency level, or else, he would be going back to illiteracy.  Meaning, primary schooling until the intermediate grades is very important.  Functional Literacy on the other hand requires at least complete elementary and secondary education.

Scrutinizing the current set-up, behind increases that SUC’s received for so many years, they have completely failed to contribute to the over-all economic progress of the country.  In fact, SUC’s primary contribution is the worsening job mismatch.

Instead of developing and offering courses needed by the market, they simply competed with each other even with private colleges and universities in offering irrelevant courses.  Many even ventured on offering Nursing, Commerce and substandard teacher’s education.  In rural areas, none offered discipline in the field of Agriculture and Fisheries or Entrepreneurship which could have made a difference to the populace.

Most SUC’s have ventured on expansion, opening branches and extension services in rural areas offering courses which don’t match the need of the place.  A clear example of this are SLSU competing with PUP and PNU as well as with private colleges and universities in southern tagalog.  The end result, once, their students graduate, they troop to urban centers to look and compete with meager available jobs.  When they failed to find one, these students went back to their communities and end up as ‘tambays’ or unemployed.  Graduates however of ‘high end’ state universities or the bright ones end up serving not their home country but of foreign lands.

True as it may that reforms in Basic Education sector should not compromise the higher education sector, but investment wise, the government is but right to make budget increase or decrease as a condition to make higher education sector relevant.  Being relevant means not the ones riding with the trend but with what is needed by the labor market even if it is unpopular.

Their budgets for MOOE are slashed but still they have a budget and they are lucky enough than our public schools which receives little but are able to survive and maintain schools elegantly.  If ordinary elementary pupils could do service to our public schools in its basic upkeep.  In the absence of utility workers, they are the ones maintaining the cleanliness of the school by doing the dusting, sweeping, grass cutting, gardening, etc.  If these young children can do it, why not the college students?  May be, they deserve to visit one public non-implementing elementary schools and see for themselves.

Disparity also exists in its teachers.  Basic education teachers are paid less than the magnitude of their works as compared with their tertiary counterparts who are paid much higher.  At times double and more than triple plus the benefit of studying for free.

Truly, higher education in the country should play the role it is mandated and expected to do even if it is unpopular particularly the SUC’s.  They should be working in collaboration with other government agencies and the private sector as among equals not as an irrelevant walking encyclopedia or scholar; hence, it is people’s hard earned money that funds them.  And students aside from practicing their rights to protest should also consider contributing their part in the upkeep of their schools.

The government on the other hand should try its best to give if not more at least equal allocations considering the significant role of basic education for the eradication of illiteracy towards functional literacy.

See also:
Politicians Bias Treatment to Education, Laggard to the Attainment of EFA and MDG Goals
Usapin ng Access, Dapat Maging Pokus ng mga Pulitiko sa Kani-kanilang Programang Pang-edukasyon
State Universities and Colleges’ Budget Cut: Fact or Fiction? Learning To Read and Understand Budgets