The Crisis of Education and the Tragedy of Underdevelopment

The theory of human capital tells us that the economic development of a country is largely influenced by the quality of its education. This simply means that a highly educated population is the key to a nation's progress.


The 21st century is characterized by the predominant role of information in economic interdependence and competition among nations. The Information Age in which we live in is also referred to as the Knowledge Society where education and information are increasingly becoming the major factors of production even more important than either labor or capital. The globalized, interdependent, and competitive nature of the world economy demands that governments should put a huge premium on education as a way forward.

Currently, the national literacy rate is at 97.5%. The figure looks positive but not competitive enough when we look at the 100% literacy rate in our more developed neighbors. If we inspect closer, literacy rate by regions is disappointingly uneven. While most regions in Luzon and Visayas have literacy rates higher than the national average, literacy rates in Mindanao are lower. Recent statistical data shows all regions have literacy rates well below the national average. Mindanao’s continuing struggle for development can be partly explained by its dismal performance in education.

There are plenty of studies that identify the problems in the education sector. These issues can be broadly categorized as follows: quality, affordability, budget, and mismatch.

The quality of education can be quantified using international standardized measurements such as the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) and Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). The country shies away from PISA. On the other hand, the last time Philippines participated in TIMSS was in 2003 where the country performed dismally. In that test, the country ranked 41st in Math and 42nd in Science among the 45 countries that participated for 8th grade students. Among 25 country participants for 4th grade students, we were also at bottom ranking 23rd in both Math and Science.

In terms of accessibility to quality education, youths from disadvantaged families are always at the tail’s end. Dropout rates tend to be higher in low-income families especially in the elementary level. In higher education, many, if not most, students who make it to the country’s top tier public universities and colleges come from relatively well-off families who could afford to send their children to private high schools that offer better quality of education than most of our public high schools can.

Our education budget is also lower than our neighbors’. Approximately, the country only spends 2.45% of its GDP on public education at all levels. Malaysia and Thailand, on the other hand, spend about 7.4% and 4% on education respectively. As the numbers show, the government does not make that much investment in education. Despite being constitutionally-bound to appropriate the largest sum of funding to education (Sec. 5, Article XIV), the government is yet to fulfill the 6% UN-recommended education spending-to-GDP ratio.

Another headache for our policymakers is the growing mismatch between education and employment. Much of our employment woes are largely attributed to the large gap in education training and what the economy can offer. As a result of the lack of job opportunities at home, a huge diaspora of Filipinos (about 10% of the population) is wandering overseas in search for greener opportunities with great human and social cost.

It is often said that the Youth is the Hope of our Motherland. But there can be no hope unless we resolved our problems in education. Our crisis in education is part of our overall tragedy of underdevelopment. If the Filipino Youth are indeed the heirs of a promising future, then we must seriously invest in that future.