Philippine Education and its State

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It is colonial, commercialized, and repressive.  Education serves foreign corporate interests.  Student are trained to fill up foreign demand for cheap and migrant labor.  Education takes the form of a commodity sold for profit.  It ceases to be a universal right.  In many schools, basic freedom such as to assemble, organize, or speak are denied of students.  Attempts to resist are suppressed.


COLONIAL
The current Philippine Education System, as well as its curriculum and medium of instruction, directly serves foreign interests.  For example, when US demands nurses, domestic helpers, engineers, etc., our government designs our educational system, implements law, that helps enhance their needed curriculum and ease the labor exportation of our professionals and vocational graduates, as well as permit colleges and universities that are not specialized for that kind of programs.

COMMERCIALIZED
While the Philippines has a big budget deficit and foreign debts, certain financial foreign policies are being followed, including the Long-term Higher Education Development Plan that aims to reduce the number of State Colleges and Universities (SCU's) and to make them "self-sufficient" by establishing income-generating projects (IGP's), such as leasing lands to fulfill commercial interests and other possible measures such as posing higher tuition fees.  Tuition fees are being shouldered by every student, and leasing of land only serves big private companies.

REPRESSIVE
As we fight for our right for education - the education that is available for all, we are being restrained by political holders.  Because of the current system that political power is owned only by the few, and because they have their own interests of colonial and commercialized education, they can and will do to all the possible measures maintain the current order and their power.


CNS offers several educational discussions and articles that comprehensively explains this kind of situation in the Philippines.  Please click here for articles or here for our contact information.