Quantity over quality
Quantity over quality
Posted 11:43pm (Mla time) Feb 04, 2005
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A14 of the February 5, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
TWO developments have brought to the fore once more the woeful state of our education system: one is the finding by the British Council that there are too many colleges and universities that are "diluting" the quality of higher education, and the other is the renewed call to increase the number of years in basic education from 10 to 11 and even 12 in order for the country to be at par with the rest of the world. The call was again made in reaction to reports that among 45 nations whose basic-education students were graded in science and mathematics aptitude, the Philippines ended up 44th.
The call was nothing new. The Presidential Commission on Educational Reform during the Joseph Estrada administration had recommended that another year be added to the basic education program. But it is doubtful whether an added year to basic education would do the trick. Another year of elementary or high school means more resources poured into the education system, resources that may fall prey to the Pacman instincts of our voracious politicians. Big chunks of the additional investments in school buildings, teachers and textbooks may end up in the pockets of pork barrel-hungry politicians and their cronies.
Quantity, it appears, has a doubtful bearing on quality. This is shown by the British Council critique of higher education. While the 1,380 universities and colleges all over the country provide easy access to higher education-just as the thousands of public schools that congressmen are fond of establishing provide admittance to basic education to millions -- there's no assurance that the quality of education is excellent and responsible. Again, the question of resources here is relevant. As Gill Westaway of the British Council said, "In a country like the Philippines, where resources are scarce, it's better to have fewer universities with quality rather than allowing hundreds of universities that are diluting the overall quality."
Obviously there ought to be a moratorium on establishment of new colleges and universities, particularly state colleges and universities (SCUs), whose number has grown tremendously since the 1980s, and many of which have charters shielding them from effective monitoring by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED). SCUs have become the favorite creations of national and local politicians. One in Pampanga was reported to have conferred more than a hundred doctorate degrees in a year, outpacing even much bigger and established higher institutions.
Why SCUs continue to grow in number despite the dubious education they provide has something to do with resources. It seems that politicians have found a new way to tap resources by building new schools, which also means new hiring and new allocations for classrooms, supplies and textbooks. Even Calamba has its own university!
How politics is killing our education system is very clear in the political pressure being brought to bear on the CHED to recall its order closing down 23 nursing schools nationwide. Several lawmakers led by Las Piñas Rep. Cynthia Villar, head of the House committee on education, met CHED officials and demanded they rescind the order.
The CHED, led by its chair, Fr. Rolando de la Rosa, O.P., defended the closure, saying it was meant to arrest the decline in nursing education, as proven by the decline in the passing rate of the nursing board exam from 49 percent to 43 percent as well as findings that nearly a fourth of nursing schools had passing rates of less than 30 percent. The order, in fact, has met acclaim here and abroad. Foreign hospitals that rely on the Philippines for nurses have welcomed the move, saying that the quality of nursing education should not be compromised for commercial-and political-interests. But the lawmakers, who two years ago passed the nursing law empowering the CHED and the Board of Nursing Education to do everything to ensure the quality of nursing education, insisted on the recall of the CHED order.
Could the CHED turn to Malacañang for help? Alas, there's no reprieve. Even without hearing the side of CHED, Malacañang recently ordered the lifting of the ban on a nursing school put up overnight by an influential computer school to capitalize on the nursing frenzy.
The CHED is trying to nurse education back to health. But our lawmakers and Malacañang, who seem to want to nurse their own pockets and shady political ambitions, are pummeling it to death.
Posted 11:43pm (Mla time) Feb 04, 2005
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A14 of the February 5, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
TWO developments have brought to the fore once more the woeful state of our education system: one is the finding by the British Council that there are too many colleges and universities that are "diluting" the quality of higher education, and the other is the renewed call to increase the number of years in basic education from 10 to 11 and even 12 in order for the country to be at par with the rest of the world. The call was again made in reaction to reports that among 45 nations whose basic-education students were graded in science and mathematics aptitude, the Philippines ended up 44th.
The call was nothing new. The Presidential Commission on Educational Reform during the Joseph Estrada administration had recommended that another year be added to the basic education program. But it is doubtful whether an added year to basic education would do the trick. Another year of elementary or high school means more resources poured into the education system, resources that may fall prey to the Pacman instincts of our voracious politicians. Big chunks of the additional investments in school buildings, teachers and textbooks may end up in the pockets of pork barrel-hungry politicians and their cronies.
Quantity, it appears, has a doubtful bearing on quality. This is shown by the British Council critique of higher education. While the 1,380 universities and colleges all over the country provide easy access to higher education-just as the thousands of public schools that congressmen are fond of establishing provide admittance to basic education to millions -- there's no assurance that the quality of education is excellent and responsible. Again, the question of resources here is relevant. As Gill Westaway of the British Council said, "In a country like the Philippines, where resources are scarce, it's better to have fewer universities with quality rather than allowing hundreds of universities that are diluting the overall quality."
Obviously there ought to be a moratorium on establishment of new colleges and universities, particularly state colleges and universities (SCUs), whose number has grown tremendously since the 1980s, and many of which have charters shielding them from effective monitoring by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED). SCUs have become the favorite creations of national and local politicians. One in Pampanga was reported to have conferred more than a hundred doctorate degrees in a year, outpacing even much bigger and established higher institutions.
Why SCUs continue to grow in number despite the dubious education they provide has something to do with resources. It seems that politicians have found a new way to tap resources by building new schools, which also means new hiring and new allocations for classrooms, supplies and textbooks. Even Calamba has its own university!
How politics is killing our education system is very clear in the political pressure being brought to bear on the CHED to recall its order closing down 23 nursing schools nationwide. Several lawmakers led by Las Piñas Rep. Cynthia Villar, head of the House committee on education, met CHED officials and demanded they rescind the order.
The CHED, led by its chair, Fr. Rolando de la Rosa, O.P., defended the closure, saying it was meant to arrest the decline in nursing education, as proven by the decline in the passing rate of the nursing board exam from 49 percent to 43 percent as well as findings that nearly a fourth of nursing schools had passing rates of less than 30 percent. The order, in fact, has met acclaim here and abroad. Foreign hospitals that rely on the Philippines for nurses have welcomed the move, saying that the quality of nursing education should not be compromised for commercial-and political-interests. But the lawmakers, who two years ago passed the nursing law empowering the CHED and the Board of Nursing Education to do everything to ensure the quality of nursing education, insisted on the recall of the CHED order.
Could the CHED turn to Malacañang for help? Alas, there's no reprieve. Even without hearing the side of CHED, Malacañang recently ordered the lifting of the ban on a nursing school put up overnight by an influential computer school to capitalize on the nursing frenzy.
The CHED is trying to nurse education back to health. But our lawmakers and Malacañang, who seem to want to nurse their own pockets and shady political ambitions, are pummeling it to death.
posted by Dante at 12:00 AM
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