PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. yesterday affirmed his administration’s commitment to providing free quality tertiary education in all public universities and colleges, vowing the government would continue to work on raising the quality of education in the country.
During the National Higher Education Day Summit (NHEDS), the President said there is a need for more efforts to enhance the country’s tertiary education system to make it more responsive to the present and future needs of society.
Marcos recognized the outstanding performances of several Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) in the country which had made it to various world university rankings in the past but noted that “no Philippine university has reached Top 100, with the country’s top schools either dropping or maintaining their rankings” based on the Times Higher Education’s 2024 Asia University Rankings.
“This just goes to show that much work is still to be done. We must pursue a comprehensive and all-encompassing strategy that will turn this trend around. The state of our education today shapes the future of the nation,” he said.
He said improving the quality of education is a continuing commitment of his administration, noting that the success of many of the government’s plans depends heavily on the availability of a strong, resilient, and skilled human resource to drive the nation forward.
To address the needs of the education system, Marcos said he is guided by four beliefs which include ensuring continued free tertiary education in public universities and colleges.
He said the government has allocated almost P134 billion for state and local universities and colleges this year to allow more students to avail of free tertiary education.
He said families should be eased of the burden of having to pay for college.
“We know that whatever is spent on education, we should never regard it as an expenditure. It is an investment. It is an investment in our people. It is an investment in our country. It is an investment in our future,” he added.
The President also believes in pursuing a collaborative effort of both the public and private sectors to promote quality higher education.
Marcos said when it comes to educating our youth, government and private schools are not competitors but must be regarded as equal partners.
“As such, government should ensure their viability, [and] treat them as strategic assets whose existence is guaranteed by nurturing policies and support,” he added.
The President also believes that democratizing access to education should not lead to the lowering of academic standards.
Marcos said the students and the entire education system should be held to a high standard to be able to cope and succeed in this fast-moving, changing world.
“Scholastic yardsticks are not movable goalposts which we change every year to improve our numbers. These must be regarded as firm benchmarks that are resistant to pressures that seek to undercut the quality of that education,” he said.
He added that giving the youth the right competencies and skills and training is the only way for them to prevail, and to prosper, in the highly competitive world.
“The battle to win the future is waged in today’s schools, where we should arm our young men and women with the right skills to not only survive but to thrive in a rapidly changing world that does not wait for anyone,” he said.
The President, however, believes that improving the quality of education and addressing the educational problem in the country is not solved by money or higher allocation alone.
Marcos said a solution to the educational problem, if intrinsically bad, does not become effective simply because it has been funded.
“We could not say that appropriations will always solve a problem. Cash is not always a cure. Even funding does not automatically guarantee that we will get our desired outcome,” he added.
The education sector has always received the highest allocation in the annual budget.
There are currently 1,977 higher education institutions in the Philippines of which 113 are state universities and colleges (SUCs); 137 local universities and colleges (LUCs); 1,714 private HEIs; and 13 other government schools (OGS), CHED-supervised institutions, and special schools.
RESILIENCY PROJECT
The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board yesterday approved the P30.56-billion Infrastructure for Safer and Resilient Schools (ISRS) Project that aims to rehabilitate and reconstruct school facilities outside Metro Manila damaged by calamities.
Marcos presided over the NEDA board meeting yesterday in Malacanang.
The project, to be funded by an official development assistance (ODA) loan from the World Bank-International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, will be implemented by the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
Of the P30.56 billion total project cost, P27.50 billion will come from loan proceeds while the P3.06 billion will be counterpart funds from the national government.
The project, to be implemented from 2025 to 2029, involves the repair, rehabilitation, retrofitting, and reconstruction of school facilities outside the National Capital Region which were damaged by various disasters between 2019 and 2023.
It is expected to benefit 1,282 schools, 4,756 school buildings, 13,101 classrooms, and 741,038 learners.
