BATA, BATA, PAANO KA GINAWA?

Bata, Bata, Paano Ka Ginawa?

by Sainora Bangon & Ashley Sta. Ana

The three inhumane processes that assure that Philippine education is neoliberal:

LIBERALIZATION DEREGULATION PRIVATIZATION

PHILIPPINE EDUCATION

Liberalization & Deregulation: reduction of government control on a specific sector (Sannadan & Lang-ay, 2021).

Privatization is the transfer of assets and duties to the private sector (Moumné & Saudemont, 2015).

The private sector and capitalists now have the ability to make use of schools to mass-produce laborers that would serve them, instead of upholding quality education (Sannadan & Lang-ay, 2021; Connel, 2013, cited in Radiamoda, 2021; Belfield et.al., 2002).

Despite the responsibility of states to provide free education to all citizens, and protection from abuse even from private entities, privatization, birthing commercialization, which is the treatment of schools as businesses, further widens the gap between the wealthy and the marginalized due to the demand for tuition fees (Moumné & Saudemont, 2015; Belfield et.al., 2002).

CLASSICAL LIBERALISM TO NEOLIBERALISM The downplaying of the state, due to individualism, was replaced with treating the state as an entity that is essential in oiling neoliberalism, through corruption (Sannadan & Lang-ay, 2021; Radiamoda, 2021).

Countless leaderships have pleaded platforms and reforms from left and right. Some materialized while others did not. The origins of neoliberalism date back decades ago, yet its characteristics seem to still be recognizable today.

Commercialization of education is a product of privatization (Abraham, 2018). Although the education system underwent reforms, it appears to be promoting the profit-oriented interests of major elites instead.

Some of the negative outturns of commercializing education are the proliferation of education centers, profiteering, and high cost of acquiring education which only favors the elite (Abraham, 2018).

Privatization further assures neoliberal education through its enablement of the integration of education into trade (Bayram, 2018). Commercializing education obliterates its aspect of being a constitutional right, therefore making it a privilege.

COMME RCIALI ZATION

COVID-19 PANDEMIC The first pandemic lockdown in March 2020 altered the lives of Filipinos. Students assumed the suspension of classes as short-term only to find themselves in online meetings. Not only did the COVID-19 pandemic caused a health and economic crisis, but it also significantly exposed the neoliberal design of the education system wherein its effects were strongly felt.

DECLINE IN ACADEMIC ENROLLEES

5 million elementary and high school students were not able to enroll for the academic year 2020-2021 (Gamboa, 2021).

Due to privatization, a number of students depend on private schools. In 2019, budget cuts were made in subsidies. Also, a number of private schools announced shutting down their operations. Students were left with the choice to apply to different schools or drop out due to financial struggles. Due to the limited spaces in public schools, the rate of enrollees for the academic year continues to decline.

FAILED DISTANCE LEARNING

A large number of students struggled financially to meet the demands of the distance learning (Calago et al., 2021).

One of the students’ calls was an academic freeze due to their struggle to buy devices for distance learning (Calago et al., 2021). One of the problems faced by students is the problem of internet connection. Students in far-flung areas struggled to acquire data or internet signal, while students from well-off households have the means which is a manifestation of the widening gap between the rich and poor (Calago et al., 2021).

BUDGET CUTS IN EDUCATION

In 2021, the Department of Education (DepEd) received a PHP 605.74 billion, 7.4 percent higher than the previous year, but it is small compared to the budget increases of other departments (Albert et al., 2021)

The Philippines has been found to be underinvesting in the education sector even though it has been constitutionally mandated to invest heavily in education. (Albert et al., 2021). While the country faces a worldwide health problem, the education sector also faces a crisis of its own.

Massive budget cuts were made which greatly compressed the aid and opportunities to students. For example, the Last Mile Education Program was cut to PHP 1.5 billion only.

The roots of neoliberalism in the Philippines can be traced even all the way to the early 1900s when the Thomasites first arrived.

They aided in the establishment of Philippine public schools and curriculums, consequently designing an educational system based on the US model (Chua, 2007; Smolicz, 2001).

After almost a century, another batch of Americans, namely the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), once again arrived in the country.

They had the goal of turning the Philippine public education into a corporate-driven, neoliberal system through the funding of projects that deregulate and privatize Philippine education, and condition Filipino students to be profit-makers of US investments, operations, and projects (Chua, 2007).

NEOLIBERAL THE PHILIPPINES: Throughout history, the support for neoliberal policies was evident in the different regimes that sat in the presidential position.

Executive Order 210: orders DepEd, TESDA, and CHED to utilize English for teaching instead of Filipino Displays an apparent preference for a pro-US education system Filed despite the mandate of Article XIV, Section 3 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution for Filipino or the mother tongue to be used as a medium of instruction Despite the failure to be executed, this caused a domino effect for other related bills to be filed: Gullas Bill or House Bill 4701, and CHED Memorandum No. 20 CHED Memorandum No.20 under the Aquino III regime: orders for the Filipino course to be removed as a required course in college, and for the Philippine Government and Constitution course to be removed in the newly implemented curriculum Caused a huge uproar, that even came to a point that a temporary restraining order (TRO) was filed by the Alyansa ng mga Tagapagtanggol ng Wika (TANGGOLWIKA) against CHED due to the blatant unconstitutionality of the said memorandum (Santos, 2020).

K to 12: mandates that basic education now be from Kindergarten to Grade 12.

May present a desire to improve Philippine education to be at par with other foreign education systems, but it barely conceals its goal of using students as laborers, especially for industrialized countries (Chua, 2007; Santos, 2020).

NEOLIBERAL EDUCATION AS AN INSTITUTION

Seen through the constant filing of neoliberal policies The stable and recurring ippine public schools despite the responsibility of states to: pattern of the Philippine Assure free education for all citizens educational government siding system with Protect its citizens from any form of abuse the US, the private sector, Promote the use of national language, especially as l (Chua, 2007; Smolicz, and capitalists its medium of instruction

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EDUCATION IN AN EXPERIENCE Norms of neoliberal Philippine education that dictate the behavior of those affected The Philippine state that assures that neoliberalism is manifested in the Philippine education system through the insistence on neoliberal policies that let the cycle of neoliberalism continue in the country The imperialist US that continues to exploit Philippine education for their socioeconomic gains The private sector & capitalists that ensure the commercialization of schools The students that are exploited to be developed as the ideal laborers for the private sector, capitalists, and imperialists The Philippines that continues to suffer, especially socio-economically, due to US constantly exploiting its education

REALIZATION

Neoliberal Philippine education has been so institutionalized that Filipinos don’t even bat an eye, and question some of the related policies forwarded and observed. Although the constitution affirms it, education does not seem to be attainable for everyone due to many constraints. The neoliberal policies and reforms made in the Philippine education were uncovered during the COVID-19 crisis, but its devastating effects have been felt for many years now.

Education has become a commodity with a price tag only favoring the well-off. We, as students, if not made aware of this, can be slaves of this mechanism, and be used for the socio-economic gains of the US, the private sector, and capitalists. All the tireless nights spent studying will go to waste since quality education is not really prioritized; we are just mere tools for the mass labor that the mentioned opportunists desire.

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Philippine Institution for Development Studies. https://pidswebs.pids.gov.ph/CDN/PUBLICATIONS/pidsdps2127.pdf Albert, J. R. G., Basillote, L. B., & Muñoz, M. S., (2021). We need to invest more in learners, learners, learners!

Philippines Institution for Development Studies. https://pidswebs.pids.gov.ph/CDN/PUBLICATIONS/pidspn2105.pdf Bayram, A. (2018). The reflection of neoliberal economic policies on education: Privatization of Education in Turkey. European Journal of Educational Research, 7(2), 341-347. https://doi.org/10.12973/eujer.7.2.341 Belfield, C. R., Levin, H. M., & UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning. (2002b).

Education Privatization: Causes, Consequences And Planning Implications (Fundamentals Of Educational Planning). United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Calago, R. A., Pormento, S. B., & Toquero, C. M. D. (2021). Neoliberalism Crisis and the Pitfalls and Glories in Emergency Remote Education. Asian Journal of Distance Education, 16 (1). https://eric.ed.gov/? id=EJ1303721 Chua, P. (2007). Corporatizing Public Education in the Philippines: The Case of USAID and the Ayala Foundation. Mula Tore Patungong Palengke: Neoliberal Education in the Philippines, 115–125. https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi? referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1004&context=sociology_pub Gamboa, R. (2021).

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In Duterte’s 2021 budget, Filipinos are on their own.

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