LGUs: Dealing with the education crisis

“The local government units (LGUs) are the saving grace of the on-going fight against COVID-19.” This is according to Dr. Kristoffer Berse, an Associate Professor at the UP National College of Public Administration and Governance, after hearing the best practices of the three LGUs during the webinar, “Local governments in the frontline; local practices and challenges in the fight against COVID-19.”

Indeed, the local governments were at the forefront in the fight against COVID-19. They implemented activities such as mandating the closure of schools and businesses, imposing lockdowns, providing diagnostic SARS-CoV-2 testing, providing quarantine services, contact tracing, improving surging care, conducting vaccination campaigns, and most importantly, providing ayuda (financial and/or material assistance) to the most vulnerable of their citizens.

As with the response to the challenge of COVID-19, so now the local government units are again at the forefront in dealing with our current education crisis.

The basis for our assertion is our personal and professional involvement with two local government officials who are successfully dealing with the educational crisis: Mayor Casimiro “Jun” Ynares III, M.D. of Antipolo City and Mayor Victor Ma. Regis “Vico” Sotto of Pasig City.

At about this time last year, Mayor Jun Ynares noted that the public schools in Antipolo City were overcrowded as evidence by the large class sizes and the two shifts being implemented. At the same time, enrollment in private schools had gone down, so much so that several private schools had closed. The mayor concluded that the COVID-19 pandemic had so adversely affected the income of so many parents that they were forced to transfer their children from the private schools to the public schools.

Mr. Ynares then directed Rowena Zapanta, City Planning and Development Coordinator, to undertake a study on this. After consulting with Dr. Milwida M. Guevara, President of the Synergeia Foundation, Ms. Zapanta invited the Cristina Research Foundation, a public policy advisory group which recently issued a study on school vouchers (full disclosure: this writer is the chairman of Cristina Research Foundation) to discuss possible solutions to this problem.

On the basis of our discussions, Mr. Ynares, on Oct. 24, 2022, issued an invitation to Dr. Christopher Diaz, Department of Education (DepEd) Schools Division Superintendent of Antipolo City, Dr. Reynaldo Faustino, President of the City of Antipolo Private School Administrators Association, Inc. and us to meet him on Nov. 16, 2022.

In that meeting, the mayor was able to confirm that the public schools were crowded (two shifts) and that the private schools were empty. He was also informed that there are plenty of school vouchers unused as the amount did not fully cover the tuition fees.

Right there and then, Mr. Ynares decided that those students who transferred from the private schools to the public school will be offered full scholarships to return to the private schools. The full scholarship would be funded roughly by one third from the school vouchers, one third in scholarship grants from the City of Antipolo, and one third in scholarship grants from the private school.

At about the same time last year, now Pamantasan ng Pasig President, Dr. Glicerio Maningas, informed Mayor Vico Sotto, in his capacity as Chairman of the Board of Regents of the Pamantasan ng Pasig, that for School Year 2022-23, 2,330 applicants qualified for acceptance, but the school could only accommodate 1,288 of them. (Full disclosure: this writer is a Regent of the Pamantasan ng Pasig). Dr. Maningas noted that since all school expenses are free at the Pamantasan, those who are not accepted will most likely not be able to go to the private schools as they do not have the financial means to pay the school fees.

Faced with a similar situation, the DepEd would have binged on putting up new school buildings that would take five years to complete, cost twice as much as the private school buildings, and take in students whose learning levels would be far lower than those from the private schools.

Mayor Sotto took a different approach. He announced that Vice-Mayor Robert “Dodot” Jaworski, Jr. had raised the alternative of granting school vouchers (scholarships) to those qualified applicants who could not be accommodated to study at the private schools in Pasig City. These private schools have more than ample capacity to absorb these students. This approach, which can be implemented for the next school year, involves no capital expenditures, provides better choices and learning outcomes for the students, and assists the financially distressed private schools, is far superior to the current approach of the DepEd.

Last May, Pamantasan ng Pasig President Maningas reported to the Board of Regent that for Academic Year 2023-2024, 5,123 applicants qualified for admission but only 1,300 applicants could be admitted so 3,283 must be turned away.

Mayor Sotto then announced that Vice-Mayor Jaworski has already reached an agreement with two Pasig private schools, Arellano University–Pasig and Pasig Catholic College, to absorb these applicants and that the budget for the school vouchers (scholarships) will be submitted for approval by the Pasig City Council.

By this action, Mayor Sotto is achieving one of the goals of the City of Pasig, namely that any qualified resident of Pasig can have access to a college education no matter his financial condition.

The outstanding performance of our local government units in tackling the challenges posed by COVID-19 and the education crisis has vindicated the vision of the late Senator Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel, Jr. who is known as the Founder of the Local Government Code of 1991.

Under this decentralization law, government functions on the national level were devolved to the local government units. In 1992, the National Government started devolving the government hospitals to the local government units.

At present, there are 1,800 hospitals in the Philippines, of which 721 are public hospitals and the Department of Health operates only 70 of them. In contrast, the Department of Education operates all public elementary and secondary education institutions including alternative learning systems. Of the 43,765 elementary schools and 10,590 high schools in the Philippines, DepEd runs all the 37,496 public elementary schools and the 8,228 public high schools.

We would argue that 32 years after the passing of the Local Government Code, the National Government should finally devolve the public elementary and high schools to the local government units.

Dr. Victor S. Limlingan is a retired professor of AIM and a fellow of the Foundation for Economic Freedom. He is presently chairman of Cristina Research Foundation, a public policy adviser and Regina Capital Development Corp., a member of the Philippine Stock Exchange.