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Neoliberal Globalization in the Philippines:

Its Effects on Higher Education and the country’s attempt to Shift to a Global Education System
and to a More Knowledge-Based Economy

Saguiped, Patricia Leane B.


BA Political Science | PS160 - MHI

Abstract
In the Philippines, an aspect of improving the existing educational system is through adding
topics or fields of study that concern other countries' welfare, cultural influences, political
systems, and many more. Education in developing countries is much more complicated than in
developed and industrialized countries. Developing countries, such as the Philippines, are
lacking a strong educational framework for their citizens. The existing educational framework of
the Philippines is highly patterned from the frameworks of industrialized countries, so it could
cope with globalization. However, higher education institutions in the Philippines are slowly
becoming diploma-mill institutions and are lagging behind global competency standards.
Commission on Higher Education is becoming incompetent and inefficient in monitoring and
regulating the rising number of Philippine colleges and universities, as well as the graduates.
This paper seeks to analyze the strength and flexibility of the Philippine higher educational
system (together with the institutions, and the teaching and student population), the adverse
effects of neoliberalism and globalization on the Philippine higher educational system, how
higher education can be made more accessible to Filipino students, and how the manipulation of
higher education affects the pursuit of neoliberal globalization and efficiency of Philippine
economy.

(Keywords: globalization of education, higher education, education system, global education


system, developing-world education, Philippine education, CHED)

Education is vital in Philippine politics. Without education, there can be no eligible leaders to fill

in government offices, and many other organizations that are vital in sustaining life, progress,

and belief in the country’s capabilities. Moreover, citizens would be naïve, incompetent, and

unable to contribute to the nation’s growth.

University of the Philippines' President, Alfredo E. Pascual, believes that “Higher level

education is key to inclusive growth.” Education is the primary concern for the 2016 budget. The

Department of Budget and Management is planning to allot Php435.9 billion of the Php3.002-

trillion National Budget for the year 2016 (DBM 2015). And of the Php435.9 billion allotted for

education in general, only Php 10.533 billion was the requested budget for the Commission on

Higher Education or CHED and this is already considered as the highest proposed budget

throughout the current administration of President Aquino for CHED. This is a 200% increase

from last year’s budget. CHED claims that most of the remaining budget will go to the K to 12

program and other issues faced by local and national elementary and high schools in the country

(Mateo 2015).

Given these inadequate government attention and budget allocation for Philippine higher

education, the best universities in the Philippines are way behind other universities in the

ASEAN countries.
What is the current state of Philippine higher education?

Table 1: Innovation and Knowledge Indices


Source: Philippine Education Reform in an ASEAN and Global Context by Maria Cynthia Bautista
(2014)

Table 1 shows that the Philippines is definitely lagging behind its fellow ASEAN

countries in terms of competitiveness in education and amount of scientific output. Even the

University of the Philippines, the premier state university and one of the best performing

universities in the Philippines, "ranked only 8th out of the top 10 universities in ASEAN. In

2012, the Philippines ranked 92nd in the global Knowledge Economy Index, far behind

Singapore, which placed 23rd (Pascual 2016 cited in U.P System Website 2016).” In order to

keep up with other developing countries in terms of competitiveness in higher education,

Philippine HEI's must reinvent themselves.

Table 2. Distribution of Higher Education Institution in the Philippines by Region (As of April 2013)
Source: Data of the government of the Philippines (2013)

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Table 1 shows that the number of private higher institutions (HEI) in the Philippines is

greater than public HEI’s or state universities and colleges (SUC’s). The premier state university

in the country, the University of the Philippines in Diliman, has only 8 constituent units. Main

SUC’s, on average are lower than 10 per region, private HEI’s greatly outnumber SUC’s by

more than 200%. This sets the Philippines as unique from other countries in the world for most

of its students chose to study in private rather than public educational institutions. (FNF

Philippines 2004).

In just a span of 5 years, local universities and colleges (LUC) have risen from 89 to 95.

However, the education provided by LUC's are below average, 50% and up of various LUC's

graduates do not pass professional board exams. Moreover, "majority of the programs being

offered by the LUC's do not have CHED's permit or recognition." CHED only allows 31 out of

89 LUC's in 2011 to offer degree programs (Dr. Buendia et al 2011, p.16). Another problem in

the current state of higher education in the country would be the number of qualified and

globally-competent teaching staff are inadequate. The level of quality of teaching in private and

public HEI’s don’t stray too far from one another. 54% of higher education teachers only have

undergraduate degrees. Only 8% of the teaching staff in private HEI's have doctorate degrees and

13% in public. Moreover, 37% of the teaching staff in private HEI's have graduate degrees and

only 34% in public HEI's have graduate degrees. Private HEI’s are better off with adequate

resources and facilities, but both types of HEI’s are being regulated by CHED.

The role of CHED

The Commission on Higher Education is perceived to be a "weak agency" by Fr. Joel Tabora SJ

(2013), president of Ateneo de Naga University. It is necessary for CHED to be a weak agency

to give way to the academic freedom of the different colleges and universities in the country as

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reputable institutions for education and research and development. Though the government of

the Philippines provides budget for CHED, measures for full supervision of higher education is

not included in the Philippine constitution. Nevertheless, CHED is responsible for determining

the appropriate curriculum or subjects to be taught in various degree programs, the quality and

requirements of instructors or professors, and the type of students that should be taught.

“Technological advancement is one of the main reasons for a permanent increase in

productivity (Gorman n.d cited in Farhan 2012),” especially in long run economic growth. Public

HEI’s aspire for an increase in government spending so as to improve the quality of technology

used for research and development, and to be able to fund foreign-based specialists to impart

their knowledge to the poor college students of the country.

Experts claim that because Filipino students only acquire 10 years of basic education,

they aren’t competent and prepared enough to be college freshmen and this contributes to the

declining quality of college graduates.

“According to Aquino, the K-12 program will pave the way for an ever brighter future

for young Filipinos by equipping them with basic education up to international standards.” With

the K-12 program, the better and the more qualified would be the incoming Filipino students in

enrolling in international higher education institutions. Moreover, through adopting a 12-year

period for basic education, the Philippines is guaranteed to have prepared college freshmen and

high quality tertiary education graduates. K-12 also somehow addresses the unemployment

problems in the Philippines, after graduation, K-12 finishers are already “of employable age

upon graduation and would already qualify for decent entry-level jobs. This also increases the

financial capabilities of high school graduates who desire to pursue advancement through higher

education (Shahani 2015).”

K-12 program may enhance secondary education in the Philippines but the country’s top

universities and colleges are lagging behind those of its fellow ASEAN countries.

What is globalization and what are its immediate effects on higher education?

According to Altbach and Knight, globalization is defined as “the economic, political, and

societal forces pushing twenty-first century higher education toward greater international

involvement (cited in Farhan 2012 p. 3).” It is a harder struggle for developing countries to cope

with the globalization of higher education, for these countries do not have a well-developed

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educational framework (A’labri 2011 cited in Khan n.d., p. 3). The Philippines has patterned its

educational system and curriculum to those of the developed countries. The country’s

educational framework is instilling the study-to-earn-more-money notion in its students.

Brain drain has always been a concurring problem in the Philippines. The country makes

higher/tertiary education the grounds for its citizens’ training for working abroad. So why should

the Philippines raise the quality of higher education if there are no job opportunities for

graduates?

The modern world in which we live is often termed a "knowledge society";


education and information have become production factors potentially more
valuable than labor and capital. Thus, in a globalized setting, investment in
human capital has become a condition for international competitiveness.
(Meinardus 2003)

The Philippines is trying to make globally-competitive citizens as the country’s strength

and asset. Therefore, the country is gradually moving to a more knowledge-based economy.

Globalization makes knowledge as the main engine for growth in economies

Abundance of resources was never the competition for industrialized countries. Abundance of

resources may only serve as addition or power-ups in the global competition. It was always about

investing knowledge, investing in human capital. A country like, Venezuela, who is rich in oil

resources can be very poor without competent and selfless leaders.

Japan cannot compete with other countries in terms of abundance of natural or endemic

resources, yet it is still one of the richest countries in the world. Japan is continuously developing

in a knowledge-based economy. According to Professor Ichijo of the Institute for Management

Development, “the success of a company in the 21st century is determined by the extent to which

its leaders can develop intellectual capabilities through knowledge creation and sharing.”

To compensate with globalization, the Philippine is struggling to utilize education as its

main driver of economic growth. However, according to the "World Economic Forum's

Competitiveness Report (cited in Heydarian, 2016)." the Philippines moved from the 87th to the

59th "most competitive economy in the world." However, the country's top universities have

been constantly falling from the competitiveness of education worldwide. Therefore, there is an

inverse relationship between the economic development and educational development in the

country. The Philippines is indeed rich in natural resources but it lacks leaders who are strategic

and solutions-oriented to make the most out of its given resources, it has to promote equilibrium

between economic development and education development.


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Education is treated as a commodity and is being commercialized gradually

There are numerous global issues in higher education. As mentioned in the first part of this

paper, private HEI's outnumber SUC's in the country. Private HEI's in the Philippines have been

sprouting like mushrooms in the 21st century, education institutions are seen as money-

generating machines now.

Majority of small private HEI's do not have the "capacity nor the ability to perform

research and other service roles. They can seldom build adequate facilities" for research and

development. Therefore, most HEI's, in order to extend its revenues, develops partnerships with

big private entrepreneurs or corporations (Dr. Pama n.d.). Later on, these partner big

corporations will hire the highly skilled graduates from these HEI’s. HEI’s are becoming

factories to compensate for MNC’s and TNC’s human capital.

The state of higher education in the country is constantly honed by various market forces.

The international demands have imposed HEI's "what to teach and what to research (Dr. Pama

n.d.)." Moreover, the tight competition in the international business industry and labor sector also

affects the students’ preferences of degree programs to pursue. Choice of degree programs or

fields to pursue is vital for families in the long run.

Advances in ICT makes the Philippine Education permeable to Globalization

Fig 1. Enrollment Patterns (Top Degree Programs) in Public and Private Higher Education Institutions
Source: Philippine Business for Education

Fig 1 shows that "almost three fourths of total enrollments concentrate on just four fields:

business administration and related courses, education and teacher training, engineering and

technology, and medicine and allied courses." Filipino students who have finished the 10-year

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period for basic education are choosing technology-based and business-oriented degree

programs. Those who pursue the fields of Humanities are greatly diminishing per year.

Table 3: Factors Affecting Students’ Preferences in Choosing a Degree Program (Top 5 out of 15)
Source: International Journal of Sciences: Basic and Applied Research

Table 2 is a summary from a survey conducted at fourth year high school students of the

University of Rizal System in Morong, Rizal. We can see that job opportunities is the number 1

factor when it comes to choosing a degree program for these students, followed by personal

decision, the popularity of certain degree programs, the location of future work, and finally the

financial status of their respective families.

Students pursue technology-based and business-oriented college programs because they

know they have to keep up with the world being more and more dependent to technology and

that humans are taking part in a global consumerist culture.

Advances in ICT brought about by globalization is both a burden and a blessing to the

delivery of Philippine Higher Education. It has made the transmission of knowledge so much

easier. Through internet connection and access to computers, students will find it more

convenient to study provided that their outputs are already electronic.

With the onset of developments in ICT, other modes of delivery have emerged
including branch campuses (campuses set up by an institution in a country to
provide its educational programs to foreign students), franchises (institution A
approves institution B in another country to provide one or more of A’s programs to
students in country B), articulation (systematic recognition by institution A of
specified study at institution B in another country as partial credit towards a
program at institution A), twinning (agreements between institutions in different
countries to offer joint programs), corporate program (companies that sell
curriculum and training services), distance education programs (distance education
programs that are delivered through satellites, computers, correspondence, or
altogether through technological means across national boundaries.), and study
abroad programs (student from country A goes to country B to live and study at an
institution in country B) (Lenn 2001 cited in Tullao 2003, p. 7).

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Advances in ICT may have addressed the problems in lack of information but then these

advances may also lead to information overload. CHED should understand that colleges and

universities no longer have the monopoly in delivering knowledge and information in the light of

the expanded role of media and computerized networks that constitute the new components of

the knowledge industry (Brunner 2001 cited in Tullao 2003).

Global competition within universities also rise because of advances in ICT. International

quality assurance of HEI’s emerged and became stricter. International accreditations became the

measure of performance and competency of various HEI’s.

Another interesting effect of globalization to higher education is improving gender

equality. Globalization has raised consciousness in developing countries through ICT about the

role of education. International organizations, like UNESCO, has established projects or

campaigns like "Education for All", that every gender should be given equal opportunities to

"equip themselves for 21st century educational challenges (Bloom 2002 cited in Khan n.d, p. 3)."

Can global integration of education occur successfully in the Philippines?

The real answer would be no and it’s not an issue that could be addressed immediately by the

government given the time and resources. Majority of HEI’s have been serving as diploma-mill

institutions. Filipinos, regardless of attaining low quality of tertiary education believes that

diplomas are passports that could take them anywhere. Moreover, ICT revolution, brought about

by globalization, will only benefit selected universities in the Philippines who have adequate

resources for technological advancement; technologically handicapped institutions will remain

isolated and stagnant.

The standard of Philippine education is not adequate to meet the needs of global labor markets.

"University graduates have serious gaps in foundational skills, such as problem-solving, critical

thinking, initiative, and creativity. To a lesser extent, there are also gaps in job-specific technical

skills (Dr. Buendia et al 2011, p. 17)."

The University of the Philippines, the premier state university in the country and known

for its liberal education, has been reforming its general education program since the university

was first established. The required GE units was 63 in 1958, 42 in 1986, and 45 in 2001 up to

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2010. The latest GE Reform became controversial for the required units was drastically reduced

to 21-36 units and it was approved without formal student consultation.

The said GE reform is tailored for K-12 finishers and is believed to improve the specialty

or “majoring” of degree programs offered by the university to meet "international accreditation

standards." UP is an exception to CHED's "College Readiness Standards." The standard sets a

36-unit default GE program for all Philippine HEI's to achieve a more competency-based and

outcomes-based quality education (UP GE Task Force 2015, p. 6).

UP is now prioritizing specialization. “Specialization is not in itself a negative trend, as it

is the growth of the disciplines and the application of specialist knowledge that fuel progress and

development.” A lot of universities and colleges in the United States are tailoring their degree

program curriculum to specialization. (Haddad and Draxler 2002, p.6 cited in UP GE Task

Force 2015, p.6).

Adopting a competency-based educational framework

A Competency-based educational framework may work best for the higher education

system in the country and that is what the premier state university in the country is trying to

achieve. It is not dependent on time and it utilizes ICT efficiently. It encourages students to

achieve mastery on a field at the fastest time possible. For a globally competitive instructor,

competency-based education aims to revitalize traditional and standardized testing practices

(Asia Society n.d.). Students should only be allowed to graduate once they have proven that they

are competitive and they have already mastered their specializations/majors.

CHED believes that shifting to a competency-based and outcomes-based educational

framework will benefit the country more as it is facing globalization in the 21st century (from

CHED Memorandum Order Number 46 Series of 2012).

Conclusion

Beyond all these concerns in improving the state of higher education in the country,

tertiary education is still considered as a privilege. None of these would matter, the Philippines

couldn’t move to a more knowledge-based economy without its citizens attaining all the basic

needs to survive in the real and global competition. Higher education should be made more

accessible, and this is a problem of the government. Raising the quality of HEI’s to the globally-

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competitive level would mean higher tuition fees to compensate better teaching staff, and more

subsidies. According to Fr. Joel Tabora S.J, the president of Ateneo de Naga University,

“private schools are the only partners of the government in delivering higher education.” The

government should not be only highly investing in the country’s premier state university. The

government should strengthen its partnership and influence with private schools in imposing

affordable quality education to the Filipino people.

The neoliberal lives inside of us. The reality of education, whether it may be a right, is

that it will always cost money. As Fr. Tabora S.J., claims, whenever the country produces skilled

professionals such as neurologists, engineers, scientists, even political scientists… someone has

paid the price.

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