QUALITY EDUCATION: A REFLECTION OF GOOD GOVERNANCE

AILEEN C. CASTRO

Governance in a very large bureaucracy like the Department of Education is indeed a great challenge. Definitely, a big organization would always come across more problems and complex issues. It’s not quite easy to govern an organization that has been performing poorly for decades. Our education system is becoming too large and very difficult to manage aside from having leaders with low-level managerial skills. This situation pleads the question: Is our system of education being poorly governed? Does it need a total restructuring among our leaders to see better changes?

It is more likely that the poor performance of education in our country, in general, is a reflection of poor governance. Unresolved fundamental problems such as shortages in classrooms, teachers, textbooks and material resources are mirrors of poor management. How can these be happening when the education sector receives the highest annual budgetary allotment among all government agencies? We have adequate budget and sufficient resources, but still, underperformance in terms of quality outcomes.

The key to achieve quality education is to have transparent, proactive, accountable, and skillful education managers. A leader who always considers and involves all stakeholders not only in crafting and implementing plans and policies but also for every major decision he makes. In short, quality education is a reflection of good governance.

— oOo— The author is Teacher II at Anderson Elementary School