Last October, plans to improve basic education were unveiled. While K+12 got much attention, another education issue from much earlier was left out, slowly gathered steam, and reached boiling point.
On August 24, President Benigno Aquino III addressed the 15th Congress on the proposed P1.6 trillion 2011 budget, explaining its rationale, sources, and allocation.
Amidst the idealistic, yet practical, reasons, a particular paragraph drew the ire of the country’s youth:
“We allocated P23.4 billion to State Universities and Colleges (SUC) in 2011. This is 1.7% lower than the P23.8 B budget for 2010. We are gradually reducing the subsidy to SUCs to push them toward becoming more self-sufficient and financially independent, given their ability to raise their income and utilize it for their programs and projects,” the President said.
Pending approval, SUCs stand to lose funds devoted to utilities, equipment purchases and building construction. This is especially painful for the University of the Philippines, recipient of a reduction of about P1.3 B, despite being touted as a national center for research.
The response was fierce: walk-outs and rallies were held; students banged on the gates of the Department of Budget and Management on November 26, and marched towards the Senate on December 1.
Malacañang defended itself, saying the 2010 SUC budget was bloated due to P2.8 B of Congressional Insertions, hence there were no cuts. The Palace explained that it was simply re-aligning money where it was most needed—basic education, recipient of P207.3 B, up by 16.5% from 2010. Budget Secretary Florencio Abad compared education to a building—strong foundations result in a strong structure.
However, the government seems to have forgotten that buildings need more than foundations to be functional. Education must be seen in its entirety, and not in its parts. What good is improving the basics if there is no continuity?
To augment their incomes, the Palace suggests that SUCs’ properties be leased to corporations, and that their cash savings of P19.1 B—reserved for research and art endowments—be used for operations.
On the contrary, commercialization is an affront to SUCs. The Philippine Collegian said that schools would no longer be the producers of knowledge that they should be, but rather arenas for business—profit centers, rather than knowledge centers.
Privatization of SUCs isn’t a total option, nor is separating basic and tertiary education. Perhaps the answer is in the Palace’s own logic. Kabataan Partylist reports that the 2011 funds for the pork barrel is at P24.8 B, Conditional Cash Transfer at P29 B, and the military at P107.5 B. Debt servicing also increased by P80.9 B. Following Malacañang’s reasoning, rationalization should be applied in these sectors, and not in the Constitutionally-protected area of education.
Education is a right, not a privilege. The State should guarantee it as it does life and liberty. To deprive learning is to delay development. To delay development is to contradict the very principle why the present government was elected. Equal and just support to the entirety of education must be given. Not a single centavo less.
