ICT in Education

With recent opening of classes, the media, aside from the non-stop report on A(H1N1) virus, has reported our growing problems on the shortage of classrooms, books and declining quality education. These problems may primarily be attributed to lack of funding.
The budget for the public school system, which accounts for the overwhelming majority of the basic education system, comes from the national government. Over the years, the budget for allocation as a percentage of total national budget has gone down steadily, from about 30% in the 1960s. Moreover, according to the present Secretary of Education, almost 90% of the budget for education goes to the salaries of teachers and other personnel of the Department of Education, and thus very little is left for other school operations, and hardly anything is left for school improvement efforts.
Recent Statistics reveal severe shortages. There are not enough classrooms and school buildings, as a result, the average size is 41 students in the elementary and 50 student in high school. Some classes have as many as 90 students (Presidential Commission on Educational Reform [PCER], 2000). There is also a shortage in textbooks. Thus, in the recent survey, the average textbook to student ratio was 1 textbook for every 3 students. In some districts, the ratio was as low as 1 textbook for every 7 students (PCER, 2000). If these very basic learning materials cannot be provided, what more computers. There are 25,000 public elementary school students sharing one computer - and the ratio for high school is 111 students per computer. Philippine Education Secretary Jesli Lapus presented the bleak findings at the second National ICT Congress in Cebu City, Philippines. Lapus stated that the PC-to-teacher ratio in elementary is 1-to-728 while in high school it is 1-to-3.
Our education system is facing many problems. Aside from the disappointing statistics, it should recognize that it should produce globally competitive graduates. Globally competitive means computer literate. Undoubtedly, if schools are to effectively educate young people to take their place in the 21st century, then they must provide an education that incorporates ICT. Furthermore, they must provide a critical ICT literacy that trains students in how effectively determine the appropriate technology to use and how to exploit such knowledge to promote public good.
We do not aspire to make every young kid to be a CEO of the web designing company at the age of 11. But, we cannot deny the fact the children cannot be effective in tomorrow’s world if they are trained in yesterday’s skills.