-
- Education
Overview
-
-
-
-
-
-
|
-
|
EDUCATION OVERVIEW
- Administration and
Finance:
- The
Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS) is the principal
government agency responsible for education and manpower development.
The department is primarily responsible for the formulation,
planning, implementation and co-ordination of the policies, standards,
regulations, plans, programmes and projects in areas of formal and
non-formal education at all levels. It also supervises all education
institutions, both public and private.
The Department of Education has six bureaus under its control:
Elementary Education, Secondary Education, Higher Education, Non-Formal
Education, Technical and Vocational Education, and Physical Education
and School Sports.
-
- The Bureau
of Elementary Education (BEE) is responsible for providing access and
quality elementary education and focuses on social services for the poor
and directs public resources and efforts at socially disadvantaged
regions and specific groups.
-
- The Bureau
of Secondary Education (BSE) is responsible for providing access and
quality secondary education. It is responsible for establishing
secondary schools where there are none, and reviews the overall
structure of secondary education as regards curriculum, facilities, and
teachers’ in-service training.
-
- The
Commission on Higher Education (CHED) is an entity separate from the
DECS. It is responsible for
both public and private institutions of higher education as well as
degree-granting programmes at all postsecondary educational institutions.
-
- The
national government is authorized by the Constitution and State policy
to contribute to the financial support of educational programmes. Public
elementary schools, national secondary schools, vocational and technical
schools, and chartered and non-chartered tertiary institutions are
funded primarily from national funds.
Local governments are encouraged to assume responsibility for
non-national public schools. Private schools throughout the country are
funded from capital investments, equity contributions, and tuition fees
and other school charges, grants, loans, etc.
National and local governments may also contribute to the
operation of private institutions.
-
- Size:
- There are
approximately 51,000 educational institutions, public and private, at
all levels of education in the Philippines providing instruction to over
20,000,000 students.
-
- Structure:
- Education is offered through formal and non-formal
systems. The number of years of formal schooling in the Philippines is
one of the shortest in the world. The
educational ladder has a 6+4+4 structure, (i.e., six years of elementary
education, four years of secondary education, and four years of higher
education for a degree programme), except for some higher education programmes
which require a longer period of study to complete a degree.
-
- Pre-school education is optional; some private
organizations and some public schools offer nursery and kindergarten
classes. Some private exclusive schools offer seven years of elementary
education, while others require pre-school or kindergarten education for
admission.
-
- There are two types of secondary school according
to curricular offerings: the general high school and vocational high
school. General high schools offer the four-year general academic
secondary curriculum while vocational high schools offer the same
secondary curriculum with additional vocational courses. A regional
science high school is established in each of the country’s regions.
Science high schools offer an enriched Science, Mathematics, and English
curriculum in addition to requirements of the New Secondary Education
Curriculum (NESC), which was established in 1992-93.
-
- Education at the higher level is comprised of
degree and non-degree programmes. Postsecondary or technical/vocational
courses are non-creditable to degree programmes and these cover one month
to three years of schooling. The higher education or degree programmes normally require at least four years of schooling. Non-formal education
is an alternative delivery system, designed primarily for out-of-school
youth and adults and focused on developing literacy and employable or
productive skills and citizenship training.
-
- (Source: Facts and Figures ’97, Department of
Education, Culture and Sports)
-
- Private
and Public Education
- The
private sector is a major provider of educational services in the
Philippines. Approximately 7.5% of primary students are enrolled in
private institutions, 32% of secondary students, and 80% of tertiary
level students.
-
- Academic Year:
- The
academic year consists of 200 working days and extends from the first
Monday in June through middle to late March.
-
- Teacher
Education:
- Teachers
in public and private elementary schools must have earned at least a
bachelor’s degree in elementary education. Secondary school teachers
are expected to have earned a bachelor’s degree in secondary education
with specialization (major or minors) in secondary school subjects.
Both degrees must be earned in approved teacher education courses
at recognized institutions.
-
- All
teaching degree programmes are four years in length. Non-education
graduates may complete an 18-unit Certificate of Professional Education programme
in order to qualify as primary or secondary teachers. After
completion of these programmes, the students are required to take the
Philippine Board Examination for Teachers to qualify them to teach both
in the elementary and secondary levels.
-
Revised: May 06, 2004
.
Copyright © 2001 World Education
Services.
All rights reserved.
|
