Budget secretary’s ”carrot and stick” approach to education scored

 Budget secretary’s ”carrot and stick” approach to education scored

“Tertiary education is really a privilege.” – Budget Secretary Florencio Abad
By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
Bulatlat.com
MANILA — As student and grassroots organizations gear for more big protests against the railroading of the 2012 Budget, a professor of the University of the Philippines (UP) slammed what she termed as a “carrot and stick lecture” of a ranking official of the administration of Benigno Aquino III to administrators of state colleges and universities. She said the government continues to betray its mandate to prioritize education as a public service.

Professor Judy M. Taguiwalo of the UP College of Social Work and Community Development in Diliman said Budget Secretary Florencio Abad has exposed his low regard for SUCs.Taguiwalo’s criticism of the budget secretary took off from Abad’s statement reported in the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s November 14 story that “Tertiary education is really a privilege” and given this “ spending money on state colleges must be directed to top-performing institutions. “

In an audience with SUC officials in the Cordillera and the Ilocos region, Abad said school officials should survey and profile their students. Through this survey , he said, schools could determine if they are really serving the poor in the provinces. If not, Abad said, these SUCs should initiate “reforms.” If they do not initiate reforms, the government will no longer invest in these SUCs. By “reforms,” Abad meant instituting measures to generate more funds such as tuition increases.

He added that the government has a limited fund for education and this has prompted it to put together a new policy regarding tertiary education.

According to Abad, gathering empirical data to illustrate how state schools actually serve “their intended clientele” will enable the SUCs to determine which of them could serve as regional universities instead of being state-run. He also said the government has to select state schools with skilled faculty and equipment to promote courses best suited for priority industries.

He named these priority industries as business process outsourcing (BPO), electronics and semiconductors, agriculture, infrastructure and tourism.

Education remains a privilege

Taguiwalo said Abad’s statement contradicts Article XIV, Section 1 of the Philippine Constitution which states “the State shall protect and promote the right of all citizens to quality education at all levels, and shall take appropriate steps to make such education accessible to all.”

“But it is not just the clear failure of Abad, who keeps reminding us that he was Education secretary, to uphold the constitutional provision on education at all levels as a right. It is his low regard for state universities and colleges and their role in ensuring access to quality tertiary education,”she said.

Based on the Commission on Higher Education data as of August 2010, there are only 110 state universities and colleges (57 universities, 53 colleges) out of a total 607 public higher education institutions in the country..... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/12/04/budget-secretary%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%9Dcarrot-and-stick%E2%80%9D-approach-to-education-scored/