We all know education is always is a hot topic. Almost everybody has a share and interest in education: politicians, parents, teachers, elected officials, NGOs, and churches, among other agents of reform. We also know, according to the human capital theory, that the economic development of a country is a function of the quality of its education. The more and better educated a people, the greater the chances of economic development taking place in the country. The Philippines has the highest number of college graduates among developing Asian countries, but why is the Philippines left behind in terms of economic development compared to some other Asian countries, such as South Korea, China, and Singapore? The problem in the Philippines education system is not the number of years children attend schools. According to a recent report, there are more than 17 to 18 million students enrolled in public schools, but there are too little resources for too many students. The problem is how do those students get the quality of education before they graduate? Most of the nursing graduates are ending up working for call centers, most of the engineers and architect graduate students are working for fast food restaurants, and the best education students who are good in math and science end up in the USA or in another country. The problems in the Philippines are man-made, and, therefore, the solutions are also in the hands of its people.
The Philippines’ economic growth for 2013 was 7%, which was better than predicted and with the development that is taking place, parents are demanding access to good education. According to the National Economic and Development Authority, the majority of unemployment was high school graduates. The issue is the need for creating jobs. In a modern world, education is seen as the only path to success, and students should understand the purpose and significance of their study.
Economic triumph depends on educational triumph. In a globalized world where business has no boundaries, everyone is in the competition. Education is the driving engine for social mobility to push the economy forward and to build the skills pool. In a global economy, the benchmark for educational success is no longer valid by national standards alone, but the best schools must perform internationally. Today, we see a huge transformation in education, prompted by massive revolutions in knowledge, information technology, and parents demanding better education.
The Philippines is facing many challenges. The biggest among these is the creation of millions of good jobs. In order to meet these challenges, the government should follow a model based on knowledge and innovation, as a new trend that will lead to a knowledge economy. It is known that the proportion of young people in the Philippine is relatively high, and that the Philippines is suffering from the highest youth unemployment rates across the Asian countries. In order to address the unemployment in the Philippines, the country must establish a knowledge economy, described by the World Bank as an economy capable of acquiring, creating, spreading and applying knowledge in order to promote development. For example, we can see knowledge economies like Singapore, Finland, South Korea, China, India, and the United States. Those countries have managed to take advantage of the power of technological change, to achieve a level of international competition, and to develop their population’s skills.
In contrast, the Philippines fails to adapt by using new technologies, improving skills, and reflecting the creative talent of its population. Human capital is the driving force for growth in a knowledge economy. The successful development of a knowledge economy depends on the quality of the education and its training system. For example, the United States has lured young, talented people around the world to work in the country because of the excellent work incentives it provides. So that is why it does not surprise us that America is the station for most technological advances in different sectors. The reason that Americans have a more vibrant civil society is because they did not wait for their government to show them how to build the society: they just did it. America became great because of its ideas and the implementation of those ideas.
A knowledge economy provides the platform to sustain a rapid rate of economic growth and to enhance international competitiveness so as to achieve its objectives. It will also strengthen the Philippines’ capability to innovate, adapt, and create indigenous technology and to design, develop, and market new products as well as to help create indigenous growth. In the past the economy was based on natural resources, industrials machines, and manual labor. Those who owned them were the ones who created wealth, and a few companies controlled many of these resources.
Today’s economy is very different. It is based on knowledge, ideas, and resources that are renewable and available for everyone’s advantage. We are living in a period of uncertainty in business models and educational models, in politics and in technology. Perhaps twenty-five years ago, individuals would not dream of having personal dieticians, personal fitness trainers, call center agents, or many of the things that workplaces provide now. The twenty-first century is different than that twentieth century in terms of the work force and notion of self-actualization. My dad was telling me, “Son, you should be ready for changing your job at least seven times.“ Some of my international relations students were against the politics of globalization, but at the same time they were looking for work opportunities abroad. Regarding the labor market, Filipinos are much more part of a globalized economy than any other country; more than 10% percent of the overall population is working abroad.
It is true, though, that the brain drain has serious economic implications, so that the Philippine government should spend more money on education, to make it unnecessary for those good people to spend their best and the most productive year overseas. The education problem is always about those who have, not about those who have, are wealthy, and thus have no problem since they find a way to send their kids to good schools and ensure that they finish school.
In conclusion, education has become a part of the institutional mechanism that divides society between the haves and have nots. The biggest problem in the education system in the Philippines is the competence of some of those teaching the subjects, and the lack of textbooks and laboratories. Reforms must address the lack of inspiration and incentives for underpaid teachers and the process of hiring unqualified teachers. In a knowledge-based economy, a world education and information have become production factors potentially more valuable than labor and capital. The students who attend the college just learn to survive on a daily basis but who are not thinking in a more globalized world setting must be transformed. Investment in human capital has become a condition for international competitiveness. A knowledge economy presents the way forward to achieve sustainable rapid growth and to remain globally competitive for the long-term. In order to develop a knowledge economy, educators must see the importance of improving infrastructures and transforming the education system in the Philippines into a knowledge economy.
Dr. Aland Mizell is President of the MCI and a regular contributor to Mindanao Times. You may email the author at:aland_mizell2@hotmail.com
