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The cover illustration of the EDCOM II’s Year One Report, 2024
In the Futures Thinking and Strategic Foresight Community, we often speak in terms of “provocations” in the hopes of inspiring visionary ideas. There could not be a better word to describe the report on the state of Philippine education delivered at the start of this year by the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM II). In fact, the report’s title does the job: Miseducation: The Failed System of Philippine Education.
Miseducation. Failed System. The message could not be clearer. Even the cover illustration of the report itself says it all: A teacher and a student buried underneath all the weights that burden an already-flailing system and its languishing actors; piles and piles of books, exam papers, brown envelopes stuffed with administration, procurement, government forms and who knows what else; two wooden chairs with mushrooms sprouting from their legs; a tarpaulin bearing the hints of a congratulatory banner sponsored by the local mayor (mockingly named “Mayor Batman”).
On the floor we see the teacher who seems to have fallen asleep in exhaustion, in the midst of writing with a broken piece of chalk; and beside her, a pupil similarly resigned and in slumber even while answering a national exam. Between them is an untouched bowl of rice porridge.
It is a tragic picture, one that exudes, defeat, desperation, and decay.
Yet there are glimmers of hope: a seedling that sprouts from the ground; two fruits precariously hanging from a weary tree; a maya bird perched on a chair, gazing determinedly towards the distance. And here I choose to assign meaning to what I see: resilience, resistance, resolve.
In the foreground, the Philippine flag stands proud as it flutters in the breeze.
But for how long?
As we begin to understand the impacts of unprecedented disruptions in our near and longer-term futures, the signals are concerning to say the least:
Filipino students have a “learning gap” of 5.5 years with 9 in 10 Filipinos unable to read and understand a simple age-appropriate text at the age of 10 (World Bank 2022).
Given how the first 1000 days of life are crucial to brain and body development, one in three Filipino children under five years old is stunted. In fact, the Philippines ranks among the top 10 countries in the world with the highest number of malnourished and stunted children (World Bank 2021).
Only 17% from the poorest decile of the population attend higher education, compared to 49% of the richest decile.
While studies show that teacher content and pedagogical knowledge significantly improves student achievement, 62% of High School teachers are handling subjects they had not been trained for in college.
PISA findings show that the Philippines is the “bullying capital of the world” with rates double the OECD average: 43% for girls and 53% for boys.
Our national hero Jose Rizal once wrote that “without education and liberty, which are the soil and the sun of man, no reform is possible, no measure can give the result desired."
So, now what?
Technology to the Rescue?
Technology to the Rescue?
If the future is, as many big minds are touting, one of Technological Transformations where “A.I. can improve lives and protect the planet,” how might a country of over 100 million people benefit when the fundamentals of education are broken and socioeconomic barriers remain insurmountable for so many in the margins?
The myth of technology as the great equalizer is reinforced when we consider the disruptive effects of climate change to infrastructure and learning, especially in a country hit by an average of 20 typhoons annually.
As I write this on Day 3 of the latest Tropical Storm (“Kristine”) in the country, the Department of Education declared 223 classrooms destroyed and 415 others damaged. Add this to the tally of 32 teaching days lost in the previous school years as a result of school closures due to calamities, including extreme heat. What does all that do to the nationwide learning gap of 5 years?
Technology cannot come to our rescue if power lines are so often down and internet connectivity so limited. So where else can we turn to?
Ryan Baldemor / The Philippine STAR
What if we can “WHAT IF” our way out of this?
What if we can “WHAT IF” our way out of this?
“We cannot build what we cannot imagine”—and much needs to be imagined for an education system that needs to be rebuilt. Obviously, imagination is not the only answer, but when the problems we experience today are a direct result of patterns of decision-making, behaviors and choices that remain on loop and unchanged, imagination can be a powerful faculty that generates novel ideas. Imagination is especially crucial since, to quote UNESCO, we are in the midst of “a unique juncture in history, characterized by increasingly uncertain and complex trajectories shifting at an unprecedented speed.”
This is where Futures Thinking can make a difference in enabling us to better appreciate how sociological, technological, economical, ecological, and political forces are shifting our systems and lives. By exploring longer-term horizons and using different forms of anticipation—from studying trends and uncertainties, examining patterns and meanings, to envisioning possibilities in the next decade and onwards—we can imagine a diversity of future scenarios that are relevant to and grounded in our contexts and experiences.
By gathering different perspectives in a critical and creative process, we can examine the assumptions that shape our expectations about “future-ready” education and generate ideas that go beyond the hype of tech or innovation.
The Ateneo de Manila’s Research Institute for the Futures of Education (Ateneo RIFE) is the newest center under the Gokongwei Brothers School of Education and Learning Design (GBSEALD) envisioned by the university’s Magis Aspiration of Education and Transformation to be the university’s educational policy research center and futures think tank.
There is no coincidence to the name: we understand that the future of education is rife with both challenges and opportunities. The question that animates RIFE is “What can we learn from the future that can be activated for Philippine education reform and transformation today?” To answer this, we look to the emerging field and practice of Futures Thinking and Strategic Foresight to provide frameworks for research, ideation and strategy.
The Futures Design Labs conducted by Ateneo RIFE have generated provocative “What Ifs” around the futures of learning and education. What if we climate-proof our curricula so it anticipates disruptions? What if we forge more partnerships with industry to enable learning apprenticeships? What if we integrate mental health metrics as part of school assessments?
Crucially, an essential question we constantly ask in exploring these “What If” scenarios is: “Which of us might be advantaged and which ones disadvantaged by this?” An inescapable truth about forging futures is that not everyone can win, but having a sense of responsibility can ensure that more can benefit.
Futures Design Lab with GBSEALD's first cohort of BS Learning Science and Design students
Futures Thinkers naturally gravitate towards hope. Our present reality, no matter how stark or disheartening, still offers promise of what can be, as reflected in the report cover illustration.
As EDCOM2’s Executive Director, Dr Karol Mark Yee shares with us: “The Commission's findings are not meant to point fingers, disparage, or wallow in self-pity. If nothing else, it is a wake-up call to all of us concerned with the future of our nation. Our intention is to instill a sense of urgency, along with a sense of attainability – a clear horizon, and perhaps a sketch of the map toward genuine and lasting education reform for each and every Filipino learner.”
Indeed, new possibilities can emerge even from a dysfunctional system. And it is this we can cultivate with foresight, creativity and bold reforms for inclusive, equitable quality learning for all.
Can the future save Philippine education? We at RIFE believe that through the practice of anticipation, courageous imagination and grounded action, it certainly can.
Dr Karol Mark Yee
Marite P Irvine is the Executive Director of the Ateneo RIFE and a practicing Foresight Researcher and Strategist. A stubborn optimist, she advocates for Futures Thinking as a tool for education reform and societal transformation.
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