Government & Education For those who still have illusions about the state of education in this country

https://www.rappler.com/philippines/filipino-students-proficiency-edcom-2-report-january-2026/

The article explains how by the end of Senior High school only 0.4% of students are considered proficient in their subjects.

Yet, in my opinion they (the government) persist in suggesting solutions that ignore the basic problems.
1. The teacher education sucks, it is way to easy to become a certified teacher. As a result the quality of the average teacher is below par. The other result is that there are too many teachers so many work in other professions.
2. The school system sucks also. To push all kids through the same system until age 18 is naive to use a rather friendly characterisation. Because the instruction speed is determined by the average student, you end up with one third that can't keep up, and one third staring out the window because it's too easy.
Putting someone who ends up as a carpenter through the same system as a future doctor until age 18 is not efficient.
Solution: create way more "science high schools" (and not private!!) and put those future carpenters/bricklayers/electricians in their own junior/technical highschool.
3. No more kindergarten style "school projects" that are basically just a shopping list for the parents. Cure: better teachers.

 

I do wonder how you manage with your own Children there, have you found a school for them that gives an acceptable standard of education if this even exists?

I have a young Son there of 8yrs and he is at the ABC Learning centre in Valencia, he seems to be involved in lots of singing, dancing and clapping of hands and the school projects you speak of, this is a concern to me.

 

Dave, our daughter did fairly well throughout primary and high school, and in the end graduated with honours from senior high. Obviously that means that she was in the one third that mostly got bored with the lessons because too easy. She's currently a 3rd year student in dentistry in Cebu, so doing well.
We enrolled her in junior and senior high at Foundation University in Dumaguete, but yes that still means she had to endure plenty of those "school projects".

Obviously though, the situation is much worse for kids that struggle with school and those whose parents can't afford a private school. The big advantage of private vs public is smaller classes and Aircon, but otherwise it's much the same.
Teacher pay is much better in public schools but I'm not so sure that is because they do a better job.

What I would advise everyone who can afford to do that is to stimulate your child to read. Buy them books, first in Bisaya/Tagalog and as soon as they start to comprehend English a bit, get them children's books in English. Preferably in paper but a Kindle will work also.

The bookshop at the second level in Robinson mall, close to the foodcourt, has plenty English books, and even Kang on North road has some Bisaya children's books.

Reading for fun was always and still is a sure fire way to stimulate curiosity.

 

Kids born into full immersion in the Philippines will morph into full fledged filipinos that most on this platform criticise daily, it really doesn't matter their level of education, as we are constantly reminded every day in our daily lives of Dumaguete and the Philippines in General of the so-called educated who leave all sense of cop on or critical thinking in the hospital where they saw their first light, Once a filipino always a filipino, having a foreigner as a parent doesnt qualify them as bullet proof to filipino acceptances of standards and a few weeks spent overseas visiting families does not add a sprinkle of cop on that seperates them from the norm, looking through tinted glasses just blinds you in both eyes.........both my kids are for the most part filipino, went to kindergarten in dumaguete and when i would call they where either practicing for a dance or on a holiday or the teacher was in dumaguete printing, so no school or the air condioner was broken, it was never ending the excuses, I have been to dentists, doctors, hospitals, lawyers and all other myriads of filipino professionals with the walls full of diplomas and expecting some sort of profesional standards commensurate with the outrageous fees they charge, now i will be the first to admit that ignorance is not exclusively a filipino trait but the ability to think independently is solely a trait no filipino has unless of course it is corruption on a global scale and there in they will find plenty of playground mates if your goal is to have a child with some sort of an ability to think for themselves whether objectively or critically in a wordly sense unless they never plan to leave the Philippines then they never will be in need of a passport......if you wish your kids to have a worldy view and an ability to see the world bereft of jesus freaks and an environment where they can think through educated eyes.......my greatest fear is that my kids consider the Philippines as their future. I have sold our house and only return as my mother-in-laws still amongst us but when she is no more i will only rent in short bursts for my wife to visit her friends, as there is no way in this earthly word i would give my kids an option or a focal point where they could get lazy and depend on a house here or an out for them to live here...............the greatest injustice you can give your kids is a filipino legacy

 

Well, I really think that as a foreigner parent you can have a pretty big influence on the development of your child in the Philippines, and it doesn't even matter whether they're physically yours or just emotionally.
What does matter is how involved you are in their development obviously.
I remember taping large sheets of paper with the multiplication tables up to twelve to the walls of the house when noticing that the primary school was failing the kids in that respect.
And taking her outside on a clear evening and pointing up to the stars, explaining how big and how far.
Also, buying a globe and reading to her at night before bed.
There's many things you can do to give a child a better chance at success in life, also when raising kids in the Philippines.
The lousy school system is an obstacle but not necessarily a roadblock.

 

It seems to me that there is a vicious circle of poorly educated people training poorly educated students to be even more poorly educated teachers so they can make the next generation even more poorly educated.

Every vicious circle need a break point - this COULD be accomplished by encouraging foreign teachers into the country to staff Teacher Training Colleges. This would require a higher salary than currently paid to the indiginous AND (an even bigger problem) an acceptance they need help from aliens.

I believe in the days of the internet that students should be taught how to teach themselves to a certain extent and to have less fact-based education. I understand that much of the teaching here currently is rote learning and that is just so 1920s. The curricula need to be slimmed down as currently students spend too many hours per day being de-educated. As outlined in comments here, there is sparse teaching of thinking skills within the curriculum and, IMO, that is the most critical skill to have. But it's easier when they can't think!

I have read that the standard of education here is now worse than decades ago and that is a remarkeable achievement!

But I just love the plethora of photos of students outside schools and colleges and I am sure the students themselves think they are top of the world.