Meeting the MDG on education

Most schools open next month (with the exception of colleges and universities, which are moving their opening dates to August to align with the international school calendar).

For Filipinos with children in the primary and secondary levels, these are busy days preparing for opening day.

Over 20 million children are expected to entering the public elementary and high school gates this June, and they will striving to complete another academic year to be able to get into college or vocation education levels.

Education is still the basic vehicle of Filipinos to a better life. And rightly so, as studies have proven.

In the Philippines, a household head with little or just basic elementary education will likely belong to the poverty level. And the bigger family is, the greater the chance of being pushed deeper into poverty.

Being poor, there is a probability that the children will not be able to finish school. In some extreme instances, the children will not be able to step even one foot inside a classroom, and will likely grow up not knowing how to read or write.

Poverty and education, indeed, have very strong ties. This is why the Philippine government continues to support its conditional cash transfer program (or the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps), which was started in 2008.

Keeping children in school

Admittedly, the 4Ps is helping to keep children in school, particularly those aged younger than 12, while raising mothers’ awareness of the importance of giving their offspring the opportunity to finish their education.

The 4Ps is by far the most expensive social program of the government, with a bill that was already running a tab of over P120 billion as of end 2012. Its coverage, though, has been phenomenal, now reaching more than three million households belonging to the poverty level.

The concept of the 4Ps was patterned largely on the Brazil and Mexico models, both countries being the first to successfully implement the CCT program.

In all the countries where CCT is now being practiced, one overarching rational is the need to meet the Millennium Development Goals, particularly the second MDG which focuses on education: to ensure that by 2015 children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling.

Nothing dramatic

While many assessments of the Philippines’ 4Ps have not been gushing (i.e., in reducing the poverty incidence or keeping children motivated to stay in school and graduate primary levels), it has helped plenty of young children to continue their education, at least until they graduate from elementary schooling.

So far too, there have been no major scandals involving the transfer of monies to families – and many mothers have kept to their responsibilities over the years in exchange for the cash, which means agreeing to a host of health- and education-related stipulations.

In exchange, households get a boost from the P6,000 annual assistance for health and nutrition plus P3,000 per child (maximum of three children, maximum age of 14) for the 10 months of school. Not bad, really, for families living in poverty or extreme poverty.

As many social scientists will say, helping the poorest of the poor is one of the most difficult – almost close to hopeless – endeavors to undertake. And those living in poverty, a tad better than those in extreme poverty, are not far from the mold.

Therefore, it will be years, even decades, before any real or significant improvement and change can be glimpsed from this eight-year-old program. It’s a good thing, though, that this originally five-year social program continues to be extended.

Education gap

A major issue with the 4Ps is its non-inclusion of older children, those over 14 years old who have left primary schooling to take on jobs in the farms or small rural businesses, or as household help. They will join the ranks of citizens who have received little or no education, and who will likely further swell the poverty ranks.

Providing education opportunities to this generation of youth and not too young not covered by the 4Ps should be one of the objectives of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). It’s never too late to learn a new skill.

Fortunately, we are a nation that still values education – as can be gleaned from the proliferation of schools in the cities even outside of Metro Manila, and the huge number of students hoping to finish a college education.

There are still many examples of young boys and girls who strive to finish their education notwithstanding the inability of their parents to provide for tuition and, even more importantly, the everyday expenses that come with going to school and learning.

Scholarships

Thankfully, there is a growing number of kind-hearted and minded people as well as companies, who have reached out and continue to support those deserving youths committed to learn a decent skill or finish a course.

The CHED has a program that is gaining of popularity with students who need financial help. These may not be full grants, but whatever amount received is already a great help to those who aspire for a better life through further education.

There ought to be a master list of scholarship channels and sponsors available, one that makes available such opportunities like full and partial tuition grants, education loans, and other similar facilities more transparent to the public.

What’s left now is for CHED and TESDA to popularize and open access to ladderized education fit for working students. This would greatly help in bringing learning to a wider number of people, most specially those underprivileged.

Realizing the MDGs for education this year may not be possible, but at least this nation is doing something that will make this happen. –Rey Gamboa (The Philippine Star)