UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES College of Education Second Semester, AY 2011-2012

EDUC 231 Fiscal Management in Education

Reviews of the Article 21st Century School Finance: How is the Context Changing and Right to Education What is it?

Submitted to: Prof. Jonilo del Rosario

Submitted by: Ryan E. Leocario

Right to Education What is it?

Summary of the Article The series of articles basically discuss education as a universal human right and consistently takes the stand that education should be free of charge. It conveyed different concepts that support the idea of the right to education such as the 4 As (education should be available, accessible, adaptable and acceptable) by Katarina Tomasevski of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education, the declarations made from various international treaties and conventions (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, etc.). Main Points of the Authors The articles are in unison pushing for education, being agreed upon as a universal human right, to be provided by all countries worldwide for free. The authors are proposing that the governments around the world stay committed to upholding education as a top priority by financing the education sector well, among other initiatives. Critical Analysis But despite how ideal it may seem to be, I believe that the proponents of the articles are asking too much. In the case of the Philippines, the mere existence of public schools is a commitment to the 4 As of education. While it is far from the quality education that is being enjoyed by students in other countries, public schools in the Philippines remain open to citizens at no cost. If the authors concept of a perfect world is to have education completely being delivered by public schools, it goes against another universal right the freedom of choice. Private schools exist for those who can afford it, and does not disrupt the right of those who dont. For one, making education free for all is something ALL governments, whether of first or third world, will not be able to afford. In my opinion, paid education provides societal balance. Not only that, paid education in the form of private schools provides the wide array of approaches that the uniform and standardized free education will not be able to provide.

Imagine the rich and the poor enjoying free education at the same level by attending public school entirely, that I would consider an injustice to the poor. Insights and Lessons Learned Just like the fact that there is no perfect communism, education will never be completely for free. It is not the issue of free education. Free education exists as it is through public schools, at least in the Philippines. The concern should be more on, as tackled in the last article, how education is financed. If fiscal management in the public education sector is efficiently done, the quality of education (which is already free to begin with) will be a notch higher. The gap of quality education between private schools and public schools can be bridged if the government will be efficient in allocating and spending the budget of the education sector.

References 1. Right to Education Project (2001) Right to Education: What is It? [Internet] Right to

Education Project. http://www.right-to-education.org/node/60>. 2. David Chapman (2002). Management and Efficiency in Education. Asian Development

Bank Comparative Education Research Centre.

21st Century School Finance: How is the Context Changing?

Summary of the Article: The paper discusses todays school finance system by going over the various issues that surround it. The author believes that in order to realize the purpose of education, which is to improve student learning, it should be able to address the problems of demographics, labor, technology, and moving forward the non-traditional approach. These concerns have lead to education stakeholders (such as parents and school owners) shifting their priorities to the significance of funding. Main Points Raised by the Author The author believes that the continuous increase of student population, demand for skilled personnel such as teachers, need for state-of-the-art facilities, and transition towards new approaches to education are vital in depicting the future needs of schools for additional funding. In a nutshell, the author is pushing for legislative efforts to bridge the gap between spending and school performance. She furthers that fiscal strategies should be utilized in order to improve student achievement and overall education productivity. Critical Analysis I agree with the challenges enumerated by the author. If I have to sequence these said challenges in accordance to their brevity, I would say that personnel issues and practice of non-traditional approach would take a bigger impact in funding compared to technology and demographics. But while the former factors have a bigger impact, the latter two are the challenges that are not as manageable. Demographics and technology will continue to change at a very fast pace while personnel issues and moving towards non-traditional approach can be funded gradually if resources are not readily available. Unfortunately, the paper posted more questions rather than offering concrete solutions. With the data presented on her paper, the author could have provided his personal recommendations on how the challenges can be addressed.

Insights and Lessons Learned I think a better angle to look at the issue is taking one of the four challenges mentioned and expanding it as an individual research topic. Each challenge is a separate factor on its own. Generally, I believe these challenges are more of a predicament to public schools than private schools. In the Philippines, with the limited funding allocated to educational institutions, public schools are faced with the dilemma of choosing either to spread funding too thinly in order to accommodate funding for all challenges mentioned by the author on his paper or focus at one challenge at a time. The legislative plays a vital role in this decision since public education are bounded by national laws. Philippine education, as I see it, is leaning towards satisfying the challenge regarding personnel welfare. This I think, subject to proper implementation, is a good direction to take. The reason I believe is because putting a premium on teachers to upgrade their life and skills, can account for the lack of technology, obsolete education approaches and overcrowded student population.

References 1. Hansen, J. S. (2001) 21st Century School Finance: How is the Context Changing? ECS Issue Paper: Education Finance in the States: Its Past, Present and Future. 2. World Declaration on Higher Education for the Twenty-First Century (1998). Conference on Higher Education. World