In a study commissioned by Education International, researcher Curtis Riep shows how the right to education is being sold out, leaving the faith of Filipino teenagers at the mercy of the market.

In the world’s poorest nations so-called ‘low fee’ education comes at an ever-rising cost for those who cannot afford it. Filipino officials claim that their country’s state coffers lack the funds to support a free quality secondary system. That claim holds no ground, according to the study.

In the Philippines, 40 per cent of secondary schools, which accounts for 5,130 schools, are privately-owned. These schools charge tuition fees which are promoted as being ‘low cost’. However, these fees are beyond the reach of most students from low-income homes. With annual fees often exceeding US$500, these schools are inaccessible for the majority of poor families and their children, many of whom are forced to live on as little as one dollar a day.

In his study, Riep makes it clear that the government’s decision to farm out secondary education to the highest bidders is a strategic choice rather than one forced by financial constraints. The move toward low-cost, for-profit schools seems an economic plan to raise consumers rather than citizens and to ensure a future workforce flexible enough to meet the market needs for cheap labour.

Since 2009 the government’s allocation of funds to private school chains has increased to more than 31 billion Philippine pesos, nearly US$700 million USD, which Riep points out could have paid for 60,000 more classrooms and accommodated roughly three million students.

Amongst the beneficiaries of government handouts exposed in this research are Pearson Plc and the Ayala Group, which back Affordable Private Education Centers, known as APECs. Ayala, which oversees a plethora of companies in the Philippines and around the world, has its hands in the curriculum of its low-fee for profit schools in order to produce workers with the skills suitable for its labour needs.

Known as reverse-engineering the curriculum in its schools, APEC is set on creating a generation programmed “with specific skills, values, and knowledge that can be employed in the global labour market.” Free thinkers do not apply in the world of APECs.

Increased spending

By the end of 2016, APEC schools are setting their sights on accommodating 4,000 students, or clients, as they refer to them, in at least 50 schools over the next three years. In Manilla alone the number of low-fee for profit schools is set to double to 24 by the end of this year.

The Philippine government recently announced that at least 5,800 schools nationwide will now offer education for grades 11 and 12 (senior high school). This is an important step for the country and its children. However, in order for these two years to properly provide benefit, the Philippine government must commit more financial resources to the education system.

Globally, it is recommended that governments invest six per cent of GDP and 20 per cent of the national budget to education. The Philippines continues to fall short of those targets with less than three per cent going towards education.

With the government already claiming that it does not have the financial capacity to pay for secondary education, how does it plan to pay for another two years of mandatory education? Well, Riep’s work shows exactly how that can be accomplished through the private sector.

And although Filipino President Benigno S. Aquino III says that another two years of school is needed to prepare more young people for high-level jobs, one needs to look at how many employers on the other end connect to the web of Ayala Group companies.

There is international consensus that for-profit education is not the way. “All girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education” is one of the main Sustainable Development Goals set by the UN General Assembly in September.

But instead of a free quality education, Filipino youth are being left to pay for the cheap version. Low-fee private education comes at a price that the Philippines, its teenagers and their future cannot afford. It is time that the Philippine government comes to its senses.