UNDP blames falling enrolment shortages...
Thursday, May 21, 2009


The Philippines may face an “education crisis” because of falling enrolment as well as shortages in classrooms, books and teachers amid the government’s tight fiscal situation, experts warned Wednesday during the launching of a UN report.

To make matters worse, the UN report also said the Philippines was wasting millions of pesos on salaries for “excess” government.

In a forum on Wednesday, Solita Monsod, founding president of Human Development Network and economics professor at the University of the Philippines, said the weak basic education enrolment was an indication of an “education crisis.” The network wrote the report that was commissioned by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

Based on the Philippine Human Development Report 2008/2009, public elementary students enrolment dropped to 12.03 million between 2007 and 2008, from 12.08 million between 2006 and 2007.

For private elementary schools, enrolment stood at 1.09 million between 2007 and 2008, slightly higher from 1.03 million between 2006 and 2007.

For high school students, enrolment moved up slightly to 5.12 million in public schools and 1.33 million in private institutions.

Winfred Villamil, president of Economists Society of the Philippines, said the basic education enrolment hardly improved, staying steady at 91 percent between 2002 and 2004.

He added that the worrisome declines were observed in North Cotobato, Kalinga, Zamboanga del Norte, Tawi-Tawi and Davao Oriental—where enrolment dropped 10 percentage points or more.

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