Status of Education in the Philippines
Whereas the Philippines used to have one of the best education systems in Asia and continues to boast a high overall literacy rate of 93.3%, the quality of and access to education has deteriorated in recent decades due to declining investment, mismanagement, and population growth, currently at 92.7 million. Literacy rates are much lower in the south. In the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao, for example, literacy is 23 percent below the national average. English is required in secondary schools across the country.
Current Focus
Books for Asia Philippines donates more than 117,000 new books and
journals donated by American publishers to more than 1,900
organizations each year, with an emphasis on providing basic textbooks
and supplementary reading materials to elementary and high schools;
collections for university law schools and business programs; and
resource materials to nongovernmental organization. More than a third
of all distribution is in Mindanao, an area that has been wracked by
sectarian conflict and separatist movements for decades. Improving
access to quality education is fundamental to long-term peace and
development in this southern part of the country.
Read more about The Asia Foundation's work in the Philippines.
Project and Partner Highlights
Sa Aklat Sisikat (SAS) Foundation. In partnership with the SAS
Foundation and its 4th grade Reading Program, Books for Asia donates
children's books to public elementary schools which are overburdened
and under-resourced. Thus far, 300 elementary schools in Metro Manila,
Isabela, Cavite, Batangas, Pampanga, Bicol, and several provinces in
Mindanao have benefitted from 17,000 new books and reading materials.
Books for Rural Barangays. In partnership with Kiwanis International
Philippine South District and its "Kiwanis Book Bank Program," Books
for Asia donates books to remote villages in central and southern parts
of the country. Kiwanis clubs help identify eligible village schools
and pay for the transportation of the books. To date, 55,000 brand new
books have been distributed to 1,100 public schools and institutions
across the Visayas and Mindanao through this initiative.
Aboitiz2Go. By offering discounted transportation rates, Aboitiz2Go
enables Books for Asia to increase the number of books and institutions
it can reach in remote areas.
Major publisher donors: McGraw Hill, Pearson, Houghton Mifflin
Harcourt, Lynne Rienner, W.W. Norton & Company, Island Press, and
the New England Journal of Medicine.
"The Books for Asia program of The Asia Foundation has definitely been
helpful to the Supreme Court…Not only did these books contribute to the
enrichment of the Supreme Court Library, they have, more significantly,
been a source of valuable legal information and knowledge and to this
day, continue to be important references in the Supreme Court's
decisions."
- Former Chief Justice Hilario Davide, the Republic of the
Philippines 2003, and current Ambassador-Permanent Representative of
the Philippines to the United Nations
Contact
Efren Balajadia
Books for Asia Director
efren@asiafound.org
Reynald Ocampo
Assistant Program Officer
reynald@asiafound.org