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Igniting an explosion of support for education

September 18, 2007

By Mario Deriquito, Director, Center for Social Development, Ayala Foundation Inc.
Published by the Philippine Daily Inquirer, 12 June 2006

PHILIPPINE PUBLIC EDUCATION IS SADDLED WITH SO many shortages—classrooms, teachers, books, teaching materials, and science and IT equipment and facilities. The debate about the reality and the gravity of these shortages goes on, but one only needs to go to a public school to find out the real score.

A lot of resources are already being poured into public schools. But these are not enough. For example, a big chunk of the Department of Education’s annual budget (more than P100 billion) goes to paying the salaries of teachers and employees. Little is left to fund the substantial reforms needed to improve student performance.
A good number of local governments have taken the lead in improving public education in their areas through infrastructure, subsidies for teachers’ salaries and benefits, and scholarship programs. But the room for cooperation and improvement is still very much wide open.

The business sector has been contributing much to education. In fact, according to several surveys on corporate giving, education is a favorite charity among private firms. From July 2004 to June 2005, the corporate sector contributed P1.5 billion to education, the League of Corporate Foundations reported. More and more companies are getting on board the “education bandwagon.”

Not only is education key to producing quality manpower for the business sector, it also gives people the chance to get out of poverty. And poverty alleviation translates into more purchasing power, better markets. Thus, companies—big and small—are giving to education.

However, a large chunk of corporate giving goes to the companies’ own education programs. While many of these programs are successful, they often lack the needed scale and focus to create an impact on the performance of schoolchildren.
Overseas Filipinos are also a potential source of significant contributions. Studies conducted by some groups reveal that education is among the favorite “causes” of overseas Filipinos.

Education is a national concern, but a significant part of the solution may lie at the local level. Communities have to take on the responsibility of analyzing their problems and mobilizing local resources to implement effective solutions. Steps should be taken to get the support and participation of the governor, mayor, education officials or big businesses operating in a city or province or town; and to solicit the participation of the small businesses and entrepreneurs (e.g, ice plant or hardware or bakery owner), village officials, NGOs, youth groups, PTCAs, locally based universities and colleges, and all concerned citizens.

In fact, proactive communities may just be the “spark” needed to ignite an outpouring of support that will make a difference for public education.
Imagine this scenario: There is a viable plan to improve the performance of students in a town by “x percent” in five years. A local multisectoral group takes the lead to implement the plan. The local ice plant operator, and the bakery and hardware owners give their share. The local university handles the training of teachers. The local alumni association gives their share and asks fellow alumni who lead successful lives in other countries to also contribute.

The barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan allocate a significant amount of their budget to education. Local organizations contribute; ordinary town folk give individual donations. Everybody, in other words, is successfully mobilized and gives their share.

The giving becomes so infectious and remarkable that government, big business, and overseas Filipinos take notice and then give more. Thus, an explosion of local cooperation and donation triggers another explosion of giving at another level. Community efforts unlock national and international support.

Perhaps this “explosion” is not all that farfetched. And this may just be the opportunity many Filipinos are waiting for.

Will this kind of local mobilization work? There are encouraging signs.

In E.B. Magalona, Negros Occidental, a nongovernment organization, called ESKAN, has been very successful in engaging the local community in efforts to improve the performance of public schoolchildren in National Achievement Tests.

In Iloilo City, the mayor and officials of the Department of Education lead thrust to bring the Internet to all the public high schools there, and more education equipment and materials to the public elementary schools.

The Foundation for Worldwide People Power continues to build local alliances and plans to go further by organizing communities at the school level. This approach will enable schools and communities to take responsibility for improving the quality of education in their areas.

What are the advantages of local communities taking on the responsibility for education? First, it will make the communities more aware of the problems facing their schools and it will give its members a stronger sense of ownership of the solutions they arrive at. Second, it will unlock local resources. Third, the local initiative can serve as a “magnet” for more external support. Fourth, the programs and projects will have greater sustainability.

The challenge to other education players, especially to the DepEd and education experts, is to make education programs meaningful; but more importantly, to produce results. The community will only participate if it sees that the programs it supports mean something and have real impact on the performance of its schoolchildren.