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Security officers from the Quezon City Department of Public Order and Safety check the bags of students using metal detectors at Manuel A. Roxas High School in Quezon City on February 1, 2023. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News/File.

Security officers from the Quezon City Department of Public Order and Safety check the bags of students using metal detectors at Manuel A. Roxas High School in Quezon City on February 1, 2023. The increased security measure in the school is implemented in response to the recent cases of violence in campuses, with the recent case a 13-year old stabbed to death by a classmate at Culiat High School on January 20. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News

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SCHOOL SECURITY

RG Cruz

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/20230201-manuel-roxas-school-security-MD-7.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Security officers from the Quezon City Department of Public Order and Safety check the bags of students using metal detectors at Manuel A. Roxas High School in Quezon City on February 1, 2023. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News/File."/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Security officers from the Quezon City Department of Public Order and Safety check the bags of students using metal detectors at Manuel A. Roxas High School in Quezon City on February 1, 2023. <em><strong>Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News/File.</strong></em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA -- A Department of Education official on Tuesday told the House Committee of the Whole that relaxing foreign investment caps in education won&#x27;t solve the problems of classroom and teacher shortage.</p><p>&quot;The question on the floor is if we allow foreign-owned schools to enter Philippine basic education, if it will solve our classroom shortage. Off handI think it will not, at least in the short or medium term. Because this will entail a lot  of requirements,  logistically... I don&#x27;t think it will make a big impact in the near term,&quot; Undersecretary Omar Alexander Romero told the panel.</p><p>Romero pointed out that the current charter change proposal does not change the capitalization requirement for basic education, but he held that if it so liberalized, he does not predict a drastic improvement. This is because at present, international schools may already be established in the Philippines to cater to basic education.</p><p>&quot;The current legal regime already allows the establishment of international schools for basic education with the requirement that students thereof should be at least 2/3 Filipino citizens,&quot; said Romero. &quot;So with the amendment removing the last paragraph which limits total 100% foreign ownership to the schools for diplomats and their dependents, we don&#x27;t see the improvement being sought and discussed extensively since yesterday.&quot;</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/3/4/deped-rejects-ched-favors-opening-up-education-sector-to-foreigners-1316">READ: DepEd rejects, CHED favors opening up education sector to foreigners</a></div><p>Romero said the only effect that they can see is Congress may move towards a situation where international schools may be established in the Philippines solely for foreign students and solely owned by foreign nationals.</p><p>&quot;If the goal is to give Filipino citizens access to a higher quality  of education brought about by foreign schools, this can already be done at present, with the limitation that students thereof be at least 2/3 Filipino. If that is the objective, I think it can be achieved at present,&quot; he added.</p><p>For his part, constitutionalist Christian Monsod doubts Congress can be trusted, given what he claimed is a history of transactional legislation.</p><p>&quot;Can we trust the Congress to do the right things? I&#x27;m sorry to say? What happened to the mining reform law? Transactional legislation, it died in the committees of Congress. You have good intentions and you say, well you know, theoretically this can be done, but what is the context today in our country? Today we are already on a slippery slope to authoritarianism, correct?&quot; Monsod said.</p><div><strong>LAWMAKER DEBUNKS DEPED REJECTION OF FOREIGN INVESTMENTS</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BMSxX2Jff-Y?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><p>Meanwhile, Nueva Ecija Rep. Mikaela Suansing tried to debunk DepEd&#x27;s opposition to the relaxation of constitutional limits to foreign investments in education.</p><p>Suansing maintained that the oversight of the government will not be diminished.</p><p>&quot;Isa po sa mga ikinakabahala or concerns na rine-raise po ng ibang resource persons is around ensuring that once this curriculum are brought to the Philippines, it doesn’t, in their term, dilute the way that we inculcate the Filipino culture, the Filipino identity, among the Filipino students and there are a lot of safeguards around that, once we allow these institutions to come in, hindi po natin dine-diminish yung oversight functions ng DepEd nor the CHED.&quot; Suansing said in a press conference. </p><p>&quot;May safeguards po tayo wherein if we follow the models done in different countries, there are certain guidelines or restrictions. Halimbawa po sa Indonesia, they require these international institutions to offer like four courses na required, so part of it is the local language, part of it is ideology, part of it I can’t remember the four, but we have these guidelines in place,&quot; she added.</p><p>Suansing said the government can always revoke the licenses of schools that don&#x27;t comply with restrictions around the percentage of local and foreign faculty</p><p>Rizal Rep. Julian Felipe Nograles and Ako Bicol Rep. Raul Angelo Bongalon, meanwhile, maintained that the proposal could give Filipinos access to foreign education without leaving the country.</p><p>&quot;On a lighter note, sang-ayon din ho ako kay Cong. Mika, ang Harvard po ay nasa Cambridge, Massachusetts. Wala po ito sa Cubao, napakalayo, mahal po ng pamasahe dun. Kaya kung may Harvard na ho dito, eh &#x27;di dito na po tayo mag-aral. Kaya sang-ayon po ako sa access to education,&quot; Nograles said.</p><p> Suansing also said that foreign schools have more scholarships to give out to deserving students.</p><p>&quot;I think one thing that I would like to highlight is that these institutions have a deep pool of scholarships that they offer, and I can say that with utmost certainty as I was a beneficiary of that. Full scholar po ako noong ako ay nag-aral sa Harvard University, and dahil po yun sa napakaraming mga scholarships,&quot; she said.</p><p>&quot;Hindi lang isa &#x27;yung scholarship ko, tatlo po &#x27;yun na nagsama-sama para po masagot yung kabuuan ng tuition ko. Kaya &#x27;yun po &#x27;yung nais ko din naipasok dito sa diskusyon na malaki yung posibilidad na madaming mga makakatanggap ng scholarship na mga Pilipino kapag pumasok po itong mga foreign institutions na ito.&quot;</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/3/5/ad-agency-exec-backs-more-foreign-investments-in-advertising-industry-1700">READ: Ad agency exec backs more foreign investments in advertising industry</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO: </strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/47ZJmGxIW2c?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><div><br/></div><div><strong></strong><br/></div>

<p>A Department of Education official told the House Committee of the Whole that relaxing foreign investment caps in education won't solve the problems of classroom and teacher shortage.</p>

A Department of Education official told the House Committee of the Whole that relaxing foreign investment caps in education won't solve the problems of classroom and teacher shortage.

Charter change won't solve classroom, teacher woes: DepEd official

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Charter change won't solve classroom, teacher woes: DepEd official

RG Cruz,

ABS-CBN News

Published Mar 05, 2024 05:58 PM PHT

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House of Representatives

education

foreign investment

charter change

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