PBED calls for bigger education budget to avert ‘learning crisis’

THE Philippine Business for Education (PBED) is calling for a bigger budget for the education sector and other reforms to address the looming “learning crisis” seen threatening the country’s economic growth in the long term. PBED Chairman Ramon del Rosario Jr. said in a recent event that the learning loss in the country demands an immediate solution as this can affect the work force and the overall economy, explaining that infusing more resources to education can go a long way.

“Let us lobby for increased allocation of resources for education so that we can invest as much in our students as our Southeast Asian neighbors do,” del Rosario said.

The government earmarked P751.7 billion or 16.7 percent of the 2021 national budget for the education sector.

Former Education Secretary Armin Luistro, currently serving as the brother provincial of the Lasallian East Asia District, agreed that the budget allocation for education should be further increased.

“If we achieve the 20 percent targeted budget for the education sector, that will translate to around P8,000 additional budget per student per year,” he explained.

Del Rosario also focused on the health of the students to address malnourishment, calling for the proper implementation of the Philippine action plan for nutrition.

An independent assessment agency for learning is necessary as well to have a check and balance of the performance of the education system, he said. This way, targeted solutions to potential problems will be crafted immediately.

Lastly, the PBED chairman stressed the need to prioritize the teachers and incentivize them to encourage more to go into the teaching profession.

These proposed reforms stemmed from what the group described as a learning crisis in the country. “The next generation of our work force is under threat by a massive learning loss that is calling for immediate and comprehensive action,” del Rosario warned.

He noted that majority of the schools in the country have no Internet access despite the increased need for it. In addition, millions of students have decided to drop out of school amid the pandemic, he added.

“On the issue of quality, long before the pandemic hit...our learners were already suffering from poor education, reflected in the various international assessments in which we took part. We ranked among the lowest in the world in terms of science, mathematics and reading competency,” said del Rosario.

“Some of our teachers are ill-equipped to teach and this is reflected in the low proficiency levels of our learners across major subject areas,” he added.

Apart from PBED, the Employers Confederation of the Philippines, IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines, Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines, Makati Business Club, Management Association of the Philippines (MAP), Philippine Business for Social Progress and the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry were also in the said event, calling for a united business sector to respond to the matter at hand.

MAP President Aurelio Montinola III said that the business sector should “come up with something urgent and comprehensive” or risk “throwing away the future of an entire generation of Filipino learners.”

Del Rosario is also the president and chief executive officer of Phinma Corp. The listed firm has stake in several schools, including Araullo University, Cagayan de Oro College Inc., University of Iloilo, University of Pangasinan, Southwestern University and St. Jude College Inc.