Business groups push education reforms

MANILA, Philippines — Business groups are calling on the government to implement reforms in the education sector to address the current learning loss which poses threat to the country’s economic recovery and growth.

During a joint membership meeting on the country’s learning crisis, business groups Philippine Business for Education (PBEd), Employers Confederation of the Philippines, Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines, Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP), Makati Business Club, Management Association of the Philippines (MAP), Philippine Business for Social Progress, and Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry urged the government to address the current learning crisis.

The groups warned the learning loss being experienced by Filipino students at present could derail the country’s recovery and lead to slow economic growth in years to come.

PBEd chairperson Ramon del Rosario Jr. said the quality of education the learners are getting at present would dictate the workforce that would drive the country’s growth in the future.

“The growth trajectory of our nation is being threatened by the learning crisis. Will our workforce have the skills they need to keep up with the changing business landscape? Will our industries thrive on the back of our future workforce? Let me tell you now: if we do nothing to arrest the decline in our education system, the answer to these questions is a resounding no,” he said.

PBEd executive director Love Basillote said future members of the workforce who are not receiving the proper education at present, would not be equipped to secure employment in the future.

She said businesses also cannot be competitive without a skilled workforce.

“In addition, the longer our students are kept out of school, the bigger their losses will be in terms of future earnings,” she said.

IBPAP chairperson Lito Tayag said the learning crisis poses risk to the country’s competitiveness as an outsourcing destination as it is important to have a workforce with the necessary skills to perform tasks required of the industry.

As such, he said it is important for the government to recognize and accept that the country is facing a learning crisis.

“I think once we have accepted this fact, that we are in a crisis in education, and it requires a long term solution, a lot of the solutions will be driven out of the acceptance of this crisis,” he said.

Former Education Secretary Armin Luistro, who is currently the brother provincial of the Lasallian East Asia District, said reforms in the education sector must focus on social equity given the discrepancies in aggregate scores in reading, math and science between students in public and private schools and those in urban and rural schools.

He said reforms should also cover nutrition as this affects the ability of students to learn.