EDUCATION

Education, in its widest sense, includes any method whereby culture, including not only the social heritage of traditions,
customs, and institutions from the past, but also new knowledge and techniques, is transmitted from one individual or group to
another individual or group. It involves both learning and teaching, and is vitally necessary for the continued existence and
functioning of any society.
-John Lewis and John Phillip Gillin

Education, in the most general sense, is any act or experience that has a formative effect on the mind, character, and
physical ability of an individual. Education is derived from the Latin word educare, which means bring up and is related to
educere (bring out, bring forth what is within, bring out potential) and ducere (to lead).

John D. Redden states that education can be understood as the deliberate and systematic influence exerted by a mature
person upon the immature, through instruction, discipline and harmonious development of physical, social, intellectual,
aesthetic and spiritual powers of human being.

The educational institution is composed of the school, teachers, curriculum and students. Each aspect is working side by
side to support the other aspects. School plays a significant role in the educative process. It is considered as an instrument to
reshape the community and build a good society, to produce quality people by means of shaping the learners attitude and
behavior influenced by the teacher. It is the schools that fulfills the social responsibility of preparing the individual for the future
by (a) fitting him or her in the society that he or she lives in (adjustive function) and (b) enabling him or her to use his or her
knowledge and creative powers to improve this society (constructive function).

Functions of Education in Society

Cultural transformation
For society to survive, culture must be handed down from one generation to the next. The school helps provide the
young with the knowledge, skills, and values that society considers important. Thus, we learn about our history,
geography, and learn how to read, write, and manipulate numbers. The school also helps in inculcating patriotism,
virtues of our political system, norms, behavior, and morality of our society. In other words, the school is considered as
a primary channel that transmits the culture of the past, the present, and the future.
Social Integration
The Philippine society is heterogeneous in culture. Thus, education may serve to integrate young members into a
common culture by means of encouraging the development of a relatively homogeneous society with shared values.

Personal Development
The school provides opportunities for students to acquire knowledge, skills, and perspectives that are not available
elsewhere. In both formal curriculum and informal interaction with peers and teachers, students learn a great deal about
themselves and the world that surrounds them. Some of these learnings are relevant to their future occupational roles,
yet much is more valuable to personal, emotional, social, and intellectual development.
Screening and Selection
Education is an important avenue to social mobility in the Philippines and other industrial societies. By screening the
academic performance of students, the schools effectively select particular types of students for particular types of
occupation.
Innovation
Educational institutions do not merely transmit existing knowledge; they add to the cultural heritage by developing new
knowledge and skills as well. This function arises because the experience of education stimulates intellectual curiosity
and critical thought. Similarly, one of the requirements of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) is for teachers
in colleges and universities to be research-oriented.

Types of Education

1. Formal Education
It is an educational system comprising of a chronological succession of grades or levels (elementary to college),
hierarchical organization of personnel (teachers and administrators) with organized study programs (subject areas)
and a number of units and hours to be completed.
The school is a formal educational system.
2. Informal Education
Knowledge, skills, attitudes and values can be acquired from other sources, outside of the school system, through the
resources of the family, neighbors, peers, workplace, mass media, and the environment in the process of observation,
experimentation, reading, or everyday experiences.
3. Non-formal Education
It is called quasi-formal system in the sense that knowledge, skills, attitudes and values are acquired outside of the
school system but there is a system of methods, procedures of teaching and learning to be observed and followed so
that those knowledge, skills, attitudes and values can be assimilated and used profitably.
General Objectives of Philippine Education

The general objectives of education are defined in the 1987 Constitution, Article XIV:

Section 1. The State shall protect and promote the right of all citizens to quality education at all levels and shall take appropriate
steps to make education accessible to all.

Section 2. The State shall:

(1) Establish, maintain, and support a complete, adequate and integrated system of education relevant to the needs of the people
and society;
(2) Establish and maintain a system of free public education in the elementary and high school levels. Without limiting the
national right of parents to rear their children, elementary education is compulsory for all children of school age;
(3) Establish and maintain a system of scholarship grants, student loan programs, subsidies, and other incentives which shall be
available to deserving students in both public and private schools, especially to the underprivileged;
(4) Encourage non-formal, informal, and indigenous learning systems, as well as self-learning, independent, and out-of-school
study programs particularly those that respond to community needs; and
(5) Provide adult citizens, the disabled, the out-of-school youths with training in civic, vocational efficiency, and other skills.

Education is a right. The United Nations Universal Declaration Human Rights Article states:

(1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary
education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education
shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
(2) Education shall be directed to the full development of human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human
rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or
religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.

The objectives of UNESCO are stated in the Four Pillars of Education:

1. LEARNING TO KNOW
Combining a sufficiently broad, general knowledge with the opportunity to work in depth on a small number of subjects.
Learning to learn, so as to benefit from the opportunities that education provides throughout life.

2. LEARNING TO DO
One acquires not only an occupational skill but also the competence to deal with many situations and work in teams.
Learning to do in the context of young peoples various social and work experiences, which may be informal- as a result
of the local or national context- or formal which involves courses and alternates study and work.

3. LEARNING TO LIVE TOGETHER

One learns to live together by developing an understanding of other people and an appreciation of interdependence,
carrying out joint projects and learning to manage conflicts in a spirit of respect for the values of pluralism, mutual
understanding, and peace.

4. LEARNING TO BE
One learns to be so as to better develop ones personality and be able to act with ever greater autonomy, judgment,
and personal responsibility. In this connection, education must not disregard any aspect of enhancing the qualities of the
individual: memory, reasoning, aesthetic sense, physical capacities, and communication skills.

Based on the four pillars of education, what is important is the holistic growth of the learner- intellectual, emotional, social,
physical, and spiritual- for an individual to be able to transform into a useful member of society, one who not only understands
the alphabet but also knows how to be a good, peace-loving, law-abiding citizen, and patriotic Filipino. Traditionally, early
schooling aims to teach a child how to read and write a-b-c and count 1-2-3. But one must note that the most important goal of
education is enabling the learner to live a full, self-fulfilled life, just as how God, the Creator of life, means it to be.