Philippines: Summary Report. Mapping out Disadvantaged Groups in Education. Asia-South Pacific Education Watch

Overview & Synopsis

The Civil Society Network for Education Reforms (E-Net Philippines), a network of organizations pushing for Education for All, believes that years of underinvestment and neglect of the public education system have caused the country's dismal education performance. This critique provided a framework for engaging with DepEd and the Legislature, specifically in lobbying for increased investments for education targeting the marginalized, excluded and vulnerable groups. But it did not apply to principals, teachers and civil society organizations already implementing and innovating education programmes on the ground. There was also a need to formulate an approach toward local government (LGU) officials responsible for the needs of those who are missing out on education. ENet Philippines realized the importance of generating updated data at the "barangay" (village) and municipal (town) levels and scrutinizing the reasons many children and youth are not in school. The need for updated data to guide national and local advocacy gave birth to Education Watch, a collaboration between Asian South Pacific Bureau of Adult Education (ASPBAE) and E-Net Philippines, to map out the disadvantaged sectors in education. Conceptualized in March 2006, Education Watch culminated in a public launch in September 2007. It is a citizen-based assessment at the midpoint of the Education for All campaign in the Philippines seeking to establish baseline data, determine the magnitude of education deficits, analyze the underlying causes of deprivation, monitor changes over time, and identify factors that can account for changes in the education performance until 2015. It is designed to inform policy, formulate well-targeted programs and identify and locate beneficiaries to effectively reach out to children missing out on education. The study was undertaken at three levels: (1) National Monitoring;(2) Local Area Surveys; and (3) Case Studies. The data culled from the local survey and from national government statistics show that the Philippines is missing its Education for All targets. In fact, the government's midterm progress report on the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) noted that Goal No.2 on universal primary education, along with Goal No.5 on Maternal Health, have become the most threatened among the eight goals. (Contains 5 tables, 1 figure and 10 endnotes.)