Education in the Philippines for many years now has suffered much in terms of quality. True, while access to education may no longer be an issue today, students’ retention rate in school and learning achievement nevertheless continue to worsen, as shown from the results of various studies and national and international examinations. What brings about such situation? Are shortages in school buildings, teachers, and textbooks the reason? Or are they simply the symptoms of a more serious and underlying cause?
The lead feature in this DRN issue points to the matter of governance of the education sector, resulting from a highly centralized structure and frequent changes in leadership, as a major cause. Reforms in the structure and injection of dynamism in those who manage operation of the system could thus contribute a dozenfold in improving the overall quality of the education outcomes. These, in essence, are what Prof. Juan Miguel Luz, Associate Dean at the Asian Institute of Management, suggests as he tries to analyze what’s keeping our education sector from breaking loose from its myriad of problems.
