According to the report of Edilberto de Jesus, former Education Secretary in the Philippines in 2004, the quality of education in the Philippines had been declining continuously. The country’s public elementary, secondary schools and colleges and universities have failed to teach the competency that average citizens need to become responsible, productive and fulfilled persons. The two principal reasons are poor management of the educational system, and second, is that the country is not investing enough to meet the needs of a good educational system.

Education Secretary Florencio Abad said the Philippines is facing a crisis in education. He cited results of the national achievement test conducted for the school year 2004-2005, which showed that fourth-year high school students garnered an average score of 46.80 percent in the “written expression” and 67.74 percent in “reading comprehension” of the English language. Abad said a self-assessment test conducted among teachers showed that 80 percent of them believe they “have inadequate proficiency” in the use of the English language. He also expressed concern that high school students in the Philippines ranked 41st out of 45 countries in math proficiency and 42nd out of 45 countries in science. He reported that Filipino grade schoolers ranked 23rd out of 25 countries in math and science proficiency. Abad blamed the crisis in education on three “root causes”—too little investment in education, instability of leadership in the Department of Education, and the centralization of the educational system. He pointed out that only about P112 billion or 12 percent of the P907.5 billion national budget was allocated to the Dept. of Education. “About 88.1 percent of P98.7 billion of the education budget is enough only for personal services,”Abad said.

Education is a basic key in the socio-economic development of the nation. If we permit the decline of our educational system, the nation suffers the dismal consequences of poverty and hopelessness.

Senator Edgardo Angara reported the alarming and disappointing impact of the Philippine educational system. Nowadays, so many professionals in the country such as doctors, nurses, and teachers are working overseas as domestic helpers and entertainers. Even after EDSA 1, 2,3 People Power demonstrations the Philippine educational system is still run and influenced by traditional politics and corrupt government officials.