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Increase education budget – Angeles
Increase education budget – Angeles
By Ding Cervantes
Jul 28, 2010
ANGELES CITY – The former chairman of the Com-mission on Higher Educa-tion (CHED) has urged an increase in the budget for education from this year’s 2.71 percent to at least four percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) by next year, as he warned of “catastrophe” by 2040 amid the threat of population increase.
“The potential source of funds may come from the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of senators and congressmen. If 10 percent of their PDAF is set aside for higher education, there will be P2.58 billion for transformation programs,” former CHED chairman Emmanuel Angeles said in a report titled “Transformation of Philippine Education in the Next Decade” which he finalized before he left his post recently.
Angeles reported that “in the last five years, higher education enrollment averaged 2.6 million of whom 32 percent belong to poor and disadvantaged families.”
Under its present budget, CHED could provide scholarships only to 65,000 or eight percent of them, he lamented.
Angeles reported that “in the last five years, higher education enrollment averaged 2.6 million of whom 32 percent belong to poor and disadvantaged families.”
Under its present budget, CHED could provide scholarships only to 65,000 or eight percent of them, he said.
His report also reported that of some 130,000 faculty members in 1,758 colleges and universities in the country, only 45,156 or 35 percent have masters degrees, while merely 12,670 or 10 percent have doctorates.
Angeles said increasing the education budget to four percent of the GDP will mean 49.4 increase. Allocating 15 percent of this amount to higher education would be enough to bring the country to global status, he added.
Angeles noted that this year, the total budget for education is P204.3 billion which represents about 2.71 percent of the GDP. Of this amount, P26.37 billion or 12.9 percent is for higher education.
But he again lamented that such budget allocation is the lowest in Southeast Asia, together with that of Bangladesh.
Indonesia’s education budget is 3.6 percent of its GDP, Singapore’s is 3.7 percent, Hong Kong’s is 3.9 percent, Thailand’s is 4.2 percent, Brunei’s is 5.2 percent, and Malaysia’s is 6.2 percent, he said.
Angeles added that education budget increase would address the needs of the country’s population which grows at two percent annually, so that by 2040, Filipinos would number about 180 million.
“If we do not equip our youth today with quality education, help them generate new knowledge and prime them for tomorrow’s challenges, it would be major catastrophe for the Philippines by 2040,” he warned.
Apart from increase in education budget, Angeles also batted for massive student scholarships and financial assistance programs, massive faculty development program, research and development, campus development and facilities upgrading, curricular reforms and, holding of scholastic aptitude tests, among other measures.
Angeles said that current funds for scholarships are not enough to help poor but deserving students, as he pushed for a program that, he noted, could be called “Isang Iskolar para sa Isang Mahirap ng Pamilya.”
He also called for the improvement of the “administration and implementation of the student loan program” and an increase in the scholarships for every student.
Noting the low number of faculty members with masters and doctorate degrees, Angeles urged the strict enforcement of the policy requiring teachers in higher education to have at least an appropriate master’s degree.
Angeles also lamented the government’s budget for research and development which is only 0.12 percent of the GDP “is far below the Unesco benchmark of one percent for developing countries.”
“Latest data also show that the country has only 165 research and development personnel per million population, compared to the Unesco standard of 380 personnel per million population,” he said.
“The potential source of funds may come from the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of senators and congressmen. If 10 percent of their PDAF is set aside for higher education, there will be P2.58 billion for transformation programs,” former CHED chairman Emmanuel Angeles said in a report titled “Transformation of Philippine Education in the Next Decade” which he finalized before he left his post recently.
Angeles reported that “in the last five years, higher education enrollment averaged 2.6 million of whom 32 percent belong to poor and disadvantaged families.”
Under its present budget, CHED could provide scholarships only to 65,000 or eight percent of them, he lamented.
Angeles reported that “in the last five years, higher education enrollment averaged 2.6 million of whom 32 percent belong to poor and disadvantaged families.”
Under its present budget, CHED could provide scholarships only to 65,000 or eight percent of them, he said.
His report also reported that of some 130,000 faculty members in 1,758 colleges and universities in the country, only 45,156 or 35 percent have masters degrees, while merely 12,670 or 10 percent have doctorates.
Angeles said increasing the education budget to four percent of the GDP will mean 49.4 increase. Allocating 15 percent of this amount to higher education would be enough to bring the country to global status, he added.
Angeles noted that this year, the total budget for education is P204.3 billion which represents about 2.71 percent of the GDP. Of this amount, P26.37 billion or 12.9 percent is for higher education.
But he again lamented that such budget allocation is the lowest in Southeast Asia, together with that of Bangladesh.
Indonesia’s education budget is 3.6 percent of its GDP, Singapore’s is 3.7 percent, Hong Kong’s is 3.9 percent, Thailand’s is 4.2 percent, Brunei’s is 5.2 percent, and Malaysia’s is 6.2 percent, he said.
Angeles added that education budget increase would address the needs of the country’s population which grows at two percent annually, so that by 2040, Filipinos would number about 180 million.
“If we do not equip our youth today with quality education, help them generate new knowledge and prime them for tomorrow’s challenges, it would be major catastrophe for the Philippines by 2040,” he warned.
Apart from increase in education budget, Angeles also batted for massive student scholarships and financial assistance programs, massive faculty development program, research and development, campus development and facilities upgrading, curricular reforms and, holding of scholastic aptitude tests, among other measures.
Angeles said that current funds for scholarships are not enough to help poor but deserving students, as he pushed for a program that, he noted, could be called “Isang Iskolar para sa Isang Mahirap ng Pamilya.”
He also called for the improvement of the “administration and implementation of the student loan program” and an increase in the scholarships for every student.
Noting the low number of faculty members with masters and doctorate degrees, Angeles urged the strict enforcement of the policy requiring teachers in higher education to have at least an appropriate master’s degree.
Angeles also lamented the government’s budget for research and development which is only 0.12 percent of the GDP “is far below the Unesco benchmark of one percent for developing countries.”
“Latest data also show that the country has only 165 research and development personnel per million population, compared to the Unesco standard of 380 personnel per million population,” he said.
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