Philippine education ranked 'poor'

By Max V. de Leon, Business Mirror

Posted at 06/15/2011 6:51 AM | Updated as o 06/15/2011 10:1! AM
MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines ranks a poor seventh among nine Southeast Asian nations in the area of education and
innovation, uillermo M! Lu", co-chairman of the National #ompetitiveness #ouncil $N##%, said!
At a forum on Innovation and &ntrepreneurship for a lo'all( #ompetitive Philippines on Tuesda(, Lu" presented the distur'ing
results of the )*+*-)*++ lo'al #ompetitiveness ,eport of the -orld &conomic .orum, /hich sho/ed that the Philippines onl(
fared 'etter than #am'odia, among the eight Southeast Asian countries that /ere surve(ed in the fields of education, science and
technolog( and innovation!
In the area of primar( education, the Philippines ranked 00th out of +12 economies! The Philippines ranked 30th in educational
s(stem, ++)th in science and math, and 43th on Internet access!
In all categories, the Philippines /as falling 'ehind Singapore, 5runei, Mala(sia, Indonesia, Thailand and 6ietnam!
5ut the N## remains confident the countr( can immediatel( make a strong head/a( if academe and the private sector could get
their acts together and focus on a fe/ doa'les!
7Among these things are greater universit(-industr( colla'oration in research, for instance, and the use of more technolog( in
education! I also propose greater colla'oration on strategic plans and processes for industr( and government for tighter cohesion,8
Lu" told the 5usinessMirror!
.or instance, Lu" said, instead of spending 'illions of pesos for te9t'ooks that are prone to errors and entail huge printing and
transport costs, pu'lic and private schools should shift to e-'ooks that are easier to upload and update!
:e said shifting to e-'ooks is more practical no/ada(s, /ith the presence of computers in schools and the connectivit( 'eing
offered '( private firms!
In the area of research and development, Lu" said there is a noticea'le lo/ colla'oration 'et/een the industries and the
universities! :e said schools are not too open in giving their research to the private sector! The industries, on the other hand, are not
putting enough mone( for academic research!
7,ight no/, the research 'eing done in schools is merel( for thesis purposes! The output of the research should 'e given to the
industries so the( can 'e converted into something that is useful! The private sector /ill then give ro(alties to the school! -e have
to create 'usiness value for the research,8 he said!
Also, since onl( a'out )*; of the close to )< million elementar( pupils and high-school students are going to college, Lu" said it is
pro'a'l( 'etter to limit the num'er of colleges and universities!
7-e should make 'etter colleges rather than have too man( mediocre colleges! ,ight no/, /e have a'out +,4** colleges and
universities! I 'elieve /e should have fe/er 'ut 'etter universities! -e should rationali"e the s(stem,8 he said!
Source: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/business/06/14/11/philippine-education-ranked-poor