THE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY IN SERVICE OF THE NATION: An Outsider

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THE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY IN SERVICE OF THE NATION
An Outsiders View of the University of the
Philippines

• Ramon R. del Rosario, Jr.
• UP CENTENNIAL LECTURES
• UP Diliman, 21 May 2008

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MABUHAY!

• 100 years
• of the University of the Philippines
• UPs new Charter THE national university of the
  Philippines

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Business challenges

• The business of business is business.
• Milton Friedman
• establish enterprise
• create jobs
• make available good products
• provide goods and services that respond to market
  demand
• pursue profit
• enhance shareholder value

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Business challenges

• inadequate infrastructure
• a disabling and confusing environment of rules
  and regulations, policies and procedures
• a non-level playing field with the field tilted
  in favor of those who break the rules
• broad and deep corruption
• a weak justice system

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CRISIS IN PHILIPPINE EDUCATION

• One in 10 Filipinos, or 6.8 million, has never
  gone to school
• One in 6 Filipinos, or 9.6 million, is
  functionally illiterate
• One in 3 children or youth, 11.6 million, is not
  in school
• 17 million schoolchildren in the public system!

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CRISIS IN PHILIPPINE EDUCATION

• One of the main problems is retention
• or keeping our kids in school.
• High dropouts due to
• hunger the children, due to malnutrition, are
  not strong enough to attend school or concentrate
  on their classes
• lack of interest in part brought on by the
  miserable state of their schooling (shortage of
  classrooms and textbooks and the low quality
  teachers)

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CRISIS IN PHILIPPINE EDUCATION

• 2007 National Achievement Tests (NATs) 60 (75
  percent is the passing score)
• 2004-2005 Oral Reading Test only 23 of
  grade five students and 23 of grade six
  students were independent readers

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CRISIS IN PHILIPPINE EDUCATION

• Poverty Incidence
• 56.8 - among those without an education
• 37.7 - among those with some elementary
  education
• 17.9 - among those who finished elementary
• 2001 study - an additional year of schooling
  increases individual wages by 6.5-9

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A business response to the crisis

• Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) goals
  and advocacies
• together with education experts, to advocate
  policy and institutional reforms needed to make
  the Philippine education system effective and
  efficient, universal and inclusive
• competency-based standards in the training,
  hiring, and promotions of teachers
• a shift to a twelve year plus pre-school basic
  education cycle
• more funding for education and more efficient use
  of these funds 

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The corruption plague

• Results of two international surveys
• Transparency Internationals 2007 Corruption
  Perception Index 2.5 (on a scale of 1-10, with
  1 being the worst rating)
• Political and Economic Risk Consultancy 2007
  Ranking No.1 in Asia as the regions most
  corrupt country

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The corruption plague

• Impact of widespread corruption
• dissipates our already meager resources reducing
  expenditures on basic needs such as education,
  health, and infrastructure
• discourages investments as invested capital is
  dissipated due to leakages
• deepens frustration and cynicism, as misbehavior
  and unethical conduct are rewarded

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A business response beyond Friedman

• In 2006 Philippine Business for Education was
  launched.
• In 2004 the Coalition Against Corruption, a
  multi-sectoral coalition, was organized.
• In 1992, Philippine Business for the Environment
  was formed.

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A national university response

• provide intellectual leadership to separate the
  noise from the reality, fiction from the fact,
  the truth from the agenda
• be involved in the reform movement itself

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Together, end corruption

• develop a "master plan and roadmap" to fight
  corruption in our country that will identify
  the root causes of corruption and draw up a
  doable action plan to address the problem, broken
  into short, medium and long-term solutions
• use all relevant studies on corruption already
  undertaken (World Bank, ADB, UP)
• constitute a lead group to orchestrate the effort
• convene a meeting among groups already involved
  in anti-corruption work

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Together, end corruption

• UP is well suited to lead this effort because
• You have the needed human and intellectual
  capital.
• You have a long history of critical and
  independent thinking.
• You count among your alumni numerous leaders from
  all sectors whose support and cooperation you can
  muster.
• You enjoy the trust and confidence of our people.
  

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ISKOLAR NG BAYAN ITULOY ANG LABAN

• the Universitys most natural resource are its
  many students
• make them competent in their fields of endeavor
• make them good people and concerned and active
  citizens
• mold them into Filipinos who are aware of their
  rich history and culture, who are proud to be
  Filipinos and will do all they can to help bring
  about a brighter future for our country and our
  people

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OUR GOAL TO MAKE LIFE BETTER FOR OUR PEOPLE