Concerns of the Society – Education

PROBLEMS / LOOPHOLES:

1. Low Salary on the Teaching Workforce

The low salary of the teachers discourages them to work with dedication and passion on
teaching. Teachers must receive just and equitable compensation.

2. Continuous Increase in Tuition and Other Fees

The increase in tuition and other fees serves as hindrance for students to afford quality
education and no proper disclosure where the other fees are allotted.

3. Lack of Training for Professional Growth of the Teachers

Some of the schools did not have any budget for the trainings of the teachers that is why
their scope of learning is limited.

4. Lack of Support on Advanced Specialization

There are some schools that do not have any facilities that will help a student to develop
and practice his field of specialization.

5. Mismatch Between Training and Actual Job

This is the major problem at tertiary level and it is also the cause of the existence of a
large group of educated unemployed or underemployed.

6. Migration of Filipino Teachers Abroad

Because of the low compensation for teachers and as to the reality that we are in the
crisis of facing the higher consumption and other needs, teachers preferred to work
abroad rather than to teach in the Philippines as general impact of this problem resulted
into lacking of teaching personnel in our country.

RESEARCHES CONDUCTED:

According to Asian Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities entitled, Issues and Concerns
of Philippine Education Through the Years, to provide quality education to all students
is the most important mission of every educational institution. However, with the multifarious
problems facing the public schools, its delivery is hindered. Reality tells us that even if the public
school teachers are qualified to teach, the lack of instructional materials, inadequate facilities
and lack of training for professional growth hindered them to perform at their best. It is sad to
note that with students reaching up to sixty pupils and students in a classroom, the learning
environment is distorted. This problem is also true even in the private schools. Private schools
have to exert extra effort to attract a good number of enrollments to insure their survival. The
creation of the Commission on Higher Education in 1994 did not guarantee a marked
improvement in the delivery of quality education in the tertiary level. Its mandate is to regulate
higher education institutions including State Universities and Colleges, except institutions
which are granted Autonomous status. Its function includes the giving of permits to schools in
offering programs, the closing of programs which do not meet the requirements and monitoring
of all higher education institutions. Sadly, CHED, in spite of all its efforts, failed to regulate the
opening of programs. This resulted to a mismatch of the educational system to the needs of the
society. Universities and colleges produce graduates who cannot be absorbed by the labor
market in the Philippines. These situations bring us to look into the different issues and
concerns now facing the Philippine educational system.

The creation of the Commission on Higher Education in 1994 did not guarantee a marked
improvement in the delivery of quality education in the tertiary level. Its mandate is to regulate
higher education institutions including State Universities and Colleges, except institutions
which are granted Autonomous status. Its function includes the giving of permits to schools in
offering programs, the closing of programs which do not meet the requirements and monitoring
of all higher education institutions. Sadly, CHED, in spite of all its efforts, failed to regulate the
opening of programs. This resulted to a mismatch of the educational system to the needs of the
society. Universities and colleges produce graduates who cannot be absorbed by the labor
market in the Philippines. These situations bring us to look into the different issues and
concerns now facing the Philippine educational system.

According to European Journal of Contemporary Education entitled, Features and

Historical Aspects of the Philippine Educational System, there are many problems
observable not only in the system itself, but also in the wider nature of the education system,
starting with the lack of school facilities (i.e., classrooms, laboratories, etc.) to the low teacher
salaries. These kinds of problems are merely seen in the public schools. With such conditions,
obstacles are faced which in turn leads to a slow-down in students’ learning abilities.

According to The Philippines: Development Issues and Education, technical and

vocational schools offer a huge variety of courses, including agriculture, fishery, service skills,
machine operation and tailoring. It is seen as an answer to the problems of unemployment and
underemployment; a solution to the job mismatch in the workforce.

GROUP DISCUSSION AND INSIGHTS:

Upgrade the teachers' salary scale. Students and teachers must have give and take relationships.
Teacher must receive just and equitable compensation whereas they shared their knowledge
with passion and dedication.

As for today’s life many Filipino students who want to have a quality education for their future
life and career, the poverty is a big hindrance to have and achieve this. Universities and colleges
together with the government should provide an expanded scholarship program, giving more
focus and priority to the poor to all Filipino students who are deserving.

For the public and private schools they should allocate more budgets for the trainings and
seminars for the teachers’ competence to be more efficient and effective teaching skills and new
strategies. Especially an advanced learning program for them also.

Facility improvements is an issue to be focused on for the students to become more competitive
and have a quality output on their field of specialization. Schools must see to it that there is a
sufficient materials and equipment to be used for a specific field so that as they sent outside the
school, they are ready to execute their learnings and experiences gained.

The school must find appropriate internship sites that suit for the student's course. The training
must be monitored strictly by the school if the mentor give the intern proper work to gain
knowledge and some backgrounds on their real job.

CONCLUSION

We conclude that education system for tertiary levels has many factors that has a large impact
on both the teacher and students. Has a lot of loopholes that must be regarded to provide action.
Some of the problems that concerns the society are: The low salary of the teaching workforce
discourages them to work with dedication and passion. The dedication of the teacher give a
strong support of feeling of enthusiasm to teach. Continuous increase in tuition and other fees,
the increase in tuition and other fees serves as hindrance for students to afford quality education
that influence the morale of the students to learn. The quality of education the students received
has a lot of aspects on how the students perceive the quality of education it has taken to the
schools. Lack of training for professional growth of the teachers. Some of the schools do not
allotted budget for trainings to improve the scope of learning. In a tertiary level specialization
must be regarded for the student to develop and practice his\her field of specialization. The
quality of schools on the student specialization has a great impact on the future of the student.
The field it chooses to pursue must provide the students support and advancement for future
growth. Mismatch between training and actual job. Students must be aware on what is their skill
and on how the society moves according to demand. Because it has a lot of impact on the future
if the passion is absent when they were taking the road to their profession. It could lead to
unemployment. The education school system must provide proper care. Because there are some
instances where the training and actual job doesn’t collide and lead to unemployment or
underployment. Migration of Filipino teachers abroad is the reality that we are in the crisis of
facing the higher consumption and other needs. Because of the low salary of the teaching
workforce.