Touch-go reforms? DepEd gets 9 bosses in 19 years

CLAIRE DELFIN, GMA-7 NEWS The frequent turnover of leadership at the Department of Education (DepEd) from one to another secretary serving short stints has left many reform programs half-baked, in limbo, or altogether aborted. Since the first EDSA people power revolt of 1986, no appointed Education secretary - nine in all over the last 19 years - had served for more than three years. Their average tenure has been 24 months. In a bureaucracy that remains in suspended animation, pending the installation of the new boss, the frequent change in Deped leadership has meant suspending, stopping, restarting, or shifting reform programs every two to three years. A complete budget cycle for public education - from problem identification and planning to actual implementation - takes two years. Thus, a new department secretary barely has time to initiate new policies when a new appointee comes on board to review the same. Often, policy and reform initiatives whither and die during the review process. A child's basic education is a 10-year cycle. Reforms with a shelf life of one to two years will not succeed without long-term institutional support and leadership. While a department secretary may have a long view to education, the DepEd's history of constantly changing leadership has not been any guarantee of long-term implementation. From DECS to DepEd Following the fall of the Marcos regime in February1986, the Department of Education (the Department of Education, Culture and Sports until 2001) a parade of Education secretaries unfolded: Lourdes Quisumbing, Isidro Cariño, Armand Fabella, Ricardo Gloria, Erlinda Pefianco, Andrew Gonzales, Raul Roco, Edilberto de Jesus, and Florencio Abad. If the narrative starts from 1998, the Deped had Gonzales, Roco, de Jesus, and Abad, or four secretaries in seven years. Each served well within less than 24 months. The frequent leadership shake-up at DepEd has rendered reforms on touch-go mode, or at the very least, perpetually delayed. A case in point is the basic education curriculum for elementary and high school students. Today's curriculum has five core subjects - English, Science, Math, Filipino, and Social Studies. The menu used to include nine subjects all the way down to Grade 1. On top of the core subjects were Art, Music, HELE (Home Economics and Livelihood Education), and Physical Education, among others. In 1992, Secretary Fabella, an educator, dispatched a study team to learn from the best performing education systems in the region in Brunei, Singapore and Malaysia. Upon return home, the team reported on comparative differences in the curricula of the countries they visited. Singapore's curriculum, for example, consisted of only five subjects. Singaporean students learn English, Math, Science, Social Studies, and a choice of language - Mandarin for Chinese students, Bahasa for Malays, and Tamil for Indians. Singapore has only five subjects all the way up to high school, but its schools teach quite well. To this day, Singapore remains unchallenged as the topnotcher in the Trends in International Math and Science Survey. In 2003, Singapore scored 605 in Math and 578 in Science, way above the international average of 466 and 473, respectively. Unlike Singapore, Philippine schools seem obsessed with cramming its curricula with so many subjects. Every now and then, congressmen would propose to have separate subjects for values education, human rights education, peace education, gender education, and whatever else there is when an issue comes up, effectively cluttering the curriculum for children. Fabella then initiated a program to de-clutter the curriculum. But two years later, not long before everything in the program was put in place, he left on account of conflicting views with then-President Fidel Ramos on certain policy issues. Politicians and educators Next came Ricardo Gloria, a politician. He is best remembered in DepEd for his passion: applying fresh coats of paint on public schools. It was during Gloria's term when slogans were coined and painted in schools. These included "WOW" or "War on Waste" and "Be proud you're a teacher." Three years later, Gloria left to run in the 1998 elections. Fabella's program to de-clutter the curriculum did not move beyond concept. Pefianco served the six-month remainder of Gloria's term, virtually incapacitating her from pursuing reforms in the department. Reforms took off only when Gonzales, an educator, came in. But his team had to start all over again, setting a four-year timetable for doing nearly everything - changing textbooks, training teachers, and putting in all the logistical needs. Everything was actually in place until Gonzales' appointing power, the movie actor turned President Joseph Estrada, was ousted in the second people power revolt of January 2001. When Estrada stepped out of Malacañang, Gonzales stepped out of DepEd, too. Gonzales was followed by the late Senator Raul Roco, another politician. He said, "First of all, do I like this curriculum?" He eventually proceeded, but instead of four years, Roco had the whole program to de-clutter curriculum implemented in one year. DepEd insiders suspected that the reason for making it one year, even if there was little time to do it, was actually politically motivated. During that time, news was rife that Roco was eyeing the presidential post in the 2004 elections. The shortcuts Roco's reforms took provoked teachers as many of them were not ready for the new program. They were oriented in May, but had to institute the changes a month later, in time for the school opening - certainly not enough time to prepare. Roco resigned in August 2003 in the wake of corruption charges filed against him by the Department of Education Employees' Union. There was idle talk that he was actually using the corruption charges he faced as an excuse for his resignation so he could begin his presidential campaign. Edilberto de Jesus, an educator, came in as the new secretary. The first thing teachers wanted to do was petition against the new curriculum. But De Jesus and his team thought there was nowhere to go but proceed with the program. "Once you jump in, you better start swimming because if you try to come back, you drown. So we did it, we spent the whole first year talking to people, did everything," says Juan Miguel Luz who joined DepEd as undersecretary of De Jesus. After the first year, everything in the curriculum went smoothly. That was 2003 - 11 years to implement just one program. But De Jesus left after two years, following a series of policy conflicts with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and apparent disgust with self-serving politicians. "My recollection of many discussions with local and national level politicians during my term as DepEd Secretary is troubling. I can count on the fingers of one hand the occasions when any of them asked me, without any prompting on my part, about the quality of the education in the public schools." De Jesus continued: "They were interested mainly in my budget and on the appointment of specific officials and sometimes, even of specific teachers in their constituencies. Whether the children were actually learning did not naturally surface as an issue." Florencio Abad, another politician, succeeded De Jesus. To his credit, however, Abad was well-loved by superintendents and people inside the DepEd compound in Pasig City. He agreed to continue the programs established by De Jesus, while adding some that he thought were necessary. But long before the programs ran smoothly, Abad resigned together with nine other Cabinet officials who were calling for the resignation of President Arroyo. They would later be known as the Hyatt 10. OICs on standby Arroyo appointed Undersecretary Ramon Bacani as officer-in-charge but he was replaced shortly with Undersecretary Fe Hidalgo. Reports have it that Bacani's replacement came after his cousin, Rep. Rodolfo Bacani, earned the ire of the President for pushing for the latter's impeachment in Congress. Superintendents frown each time a secretary resigns. After all, they are the ones who have to execute the programs laid down by the department. Halfway through the project, they have to stop because the secretary suddenly resigns and they do not know whether or not to continue the project. In doing so, a significant amount of effort, time, and money are lost. For over eight months now, the DepEd, the largest bureaucracy, is still awaiting the appointment of a full-fledged department secretary. Various groups have intensified their lobby to have Hidalgo finally appointed as secretary. Hidalgo herself rose from the DepEd ranks, first as a classroom teacher and then successfully as principal, supervisor, director, assistant secretary, undersecretary, and now acting secretary. Hidalgo, if appointed by the President, would be the first public school teacher to have risen to the highest post of the education department. Being that, she is believed to be in the best position to inspire and empower teachers. The DepEd itself sent a petition to Malacñang endorsing Hidalgo's permanent appointment. De Jesus says he can understand why there is now clamour for a non-politician appointee. Looking at the history of DepEd leadership, he says that the political players' greater interest is their political interest. The large machinery in the department also enhances the attraction of politics. In the case of Gloria, his term was shortened because he ran for an elective office. "If Gloria did not run, there would have been no secretary for six months," he adds. Politics and education The political instability in the country also accounted for the short terms. If there was no people power revolt in 2001, for instance, Gonzales would have finished his term. In fact, he survived the “Expedition" issue against him. Gonzales was placed in a hot spot when teachers complained about the DepEd-funded purchase of an expensive vehicle, Ford Expedition, for his use. Abad says that like in other countries, decentralization is the way to go to shield the department from substantial shocks that the frequent changes of leadership bring. It is decentralization of the management of schools, and the greater involvement of the community in taking responsibility and ownership of the achievement and performance of their students. Luz agrees, saying that in Philippine public education, there is a "large disconnect between the notion of school empowerment and reality." Everybody in the system, from teacher to principal to regional director, still looks to the central office for answers to all problems, from the general lack of resources to address shortages, to curricular reforms, printing of lesson plans, and even the preparation of payroll cheques to pay teacher salaries. Luz says that if such practice of depending on the central office for everything is not changed soon, the festering problems of the education sector could only get worse. "The challenge for Philippine public education then is to change a prevalent mindset: from - all roads leading to Manila to 'the buck stops here (in the principal's office).' And the key management task is to create capacity at two key levels." To illustrate his point, Luz says that at the level of the school, the role of the principals as local chief executives must be developed and their capacity as instructional leaders strengthened. "Principal empowerment is about principals making local decisions good for their schools rather than waiting for national department instructions." At the level of the division, he adds, the role of the superintendent must be reengineered from that of administrator (e.g. consolidating school reports for the regional offices) to that of strategist and business unit leader. Superintendents must be made responsible for creating enabling environments for effective schools to operate, he says. Strengthening DepEd's foundation is the key. To Abad, parents must have the biggest say because they have the biggest stake. And teachers must organize to become a potent force. He compares the situation to that of the National Education Association in the US. It is so powerful, he claims, that it can call nationwide strikes and compel the people, and the government, to listen. Abad avers: "In the Philippines, teachers demand a salary hike but there is no muscle behind the demand. They are not in touch. They are spread all over the country. There is no consciousness. They are not aware of the power they wield." Politicized system The Philippines has a political culture that is unique and distinct despite the influences of Spanish and American colonizers. The late public administration professor Amelia P. Varela, in her book Administrative Culture and Political Change, writes: "When looking at Philippine public administration, Filipino culture is a special kind of environment. There are three major traits which highlight Filipino behaviour and decision-making. These are personalism, familism, and particularism or popularism." She says personalism has to do with the degree of importance Filipinos give to interpersonal relations or face-to-face encounters. With personalism comes the cultural values of pakikisama (getting along with), hiya (shame), and utang na loob (debt of gratitude) - values that Filipinos hold in high esteem. There is also the Filipinos' high regard for family ties that becomes a negative value when operationalized within the bureaucracy. It is what makes familism, which emphasizes the welfare and interest of the family over the welfare and interest of the community. A combination of personalism and familism is a trait very common among what Filipinos refer to as "traditional politicians." "The pervasive influence of the family on individual and group behavior, as reinforced by personalistic orientation, gives rise to particularism or popularism. To be popular is the highest compliment one can receive from kinsmen, neighbours, and friends," Varela writes. This particularism/popularism explains why most politicians hesitate to make unpopular decisions. They avoid any action that could risk the loss of political office. Filipinos, in general, have embraced a political system, anchored on the principle of one-person-one vote. It is democracy - a principle that functions efficiently with an educated electorate that makes proper and wise decisions for each single vote. Thus, De Jesus says, "the failure of our educational system inevitably translates into the fragility of our democracy." He echoes what many political analysts have said over and over again - many politicians do not really want educated voters. They need voters who can write their names, but are otherwise compliant and easy to confuse, corrupt, or coerce. GMANews.TV