Camille Naredo

Teachers give orientation to parents and pupils as classes open at Fernando Ma. Guerrero Elementary School in Paco, Manila, on June 16, 2025. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/File

Teachers give orientation to parents and pupils as classes open at Fernando Ma. Guerrero Elementary School in Paco, Manila, on June 16, 2025.
The Department of Education projects enrollment from preschool to Senior High School at approximately 27 million students.
Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

CLASS OPENING

Francis Orcio

ABS-CBN News

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/175922534633320250616-class-opening-manila-JC5190 (1).jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Teachers give orientation to parents and pupils as classes open at Fernando Ma. Guerrero Elementary School in Paco, Manila, on June 16, 2025. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/File"/>Teachers give orientation to parents and pupils as classes open at Fernando Ma. Guerrero Elementary School in Paco, Manila, on June 16, 2025. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/File</div>MANILA -- Catholic education leaders pressed the government to strengthen public–private partnership in education, warning that the country’s deepening learning crisis cannot be solved without addressing corruption and sustaining the viability of private schools.At the opening of the 2025 Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP) National Convention in Pasay City on Tuesday, school heads and national officers highlighted the principle of complementarity, a constitutional mandate recognizing the equal importance of public and private schools in the education system.“Because of the difficult economic situation, our students would gravitate towards free tuition fee in public schools. So that’s a loss of enrollment to us, and as we know, the private schools are just dependent on tuition fee,” CEAP president Fr. Karel San Juan said.“Plus, there’s always the constant move to increase salaries of teachers, and we support that, but if we continue to increase the salary of teachers in the public schools, you also need increase of salary of teachers in the private schools,” San Juan added.<div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/9/30/catholic-educators-call-out-alumni-in-gov-t-business-corruption-betrays-catholic-values-1704">Catholic educators call out alumni in gov&#x27;t, business: &#x27;Corruption betrays Catholic values&#x27;</a></div>Subsidy programs like GASTPE (Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education) remain helpful but need urgent reforms, CEAP added.They further argued that stronger support for private schools through subsidies, vouchers, and fair regulation is vital to sustain quality and prevent closures.“Basically, it talks about recognizing the necessity, the importance of both public and private in educational system in the Philippines, which is enshrined and guaranteed in the Philippine Constitution. Meaning, government should share its funds, public funds, to both public and private,” San Juan stressed, urging policy reforms to widen student choice and ease the financial strain on schools.Leaders also opposed proposals to roll back the K-12 reform and remove ethics in higher education curriculum.“CEAP strongly opposes to remove senior high school program. For us, it is K-12 reform not repeal. Removing it now would undo the sacrifices of students, families, schools, and destabilize the entire education system,” said Br. Joaquin Severino Martinez, CEAP corporate secretary.On ethics, CEAP warned that weakening values education would have grave consequences for the nation.“Even more troubling is the proposal to exclude ethics in the general education curriculum. For CEAP, ethics is not optional, it is essential. And look what’s happening to our country today. Ethics forms the conscience of our students. And without it, we produce graduates who may be competent but lack integrity,” Martinez said.Teacher migration emerged as another pressing concern, with Atty. Sabino Padilla, CEAP legal counsel, noting the stark gap between the salaries offered in public and private schools that continues to drive many educators away from private institutions.“We have seen the numbers of our teachers move to the public schools because of the better pay. There’s a big difference, a stark difference between the pay of private schools and public schools teachers,” Padilla lamented.The group pushed for safeguards to prevent teachers from being hired out of their contracts mid-term, warning that such practices weaken private education.The discussion then turned to corruption, which CEAP Vice President Fr. Wilmer Tria identified it as a root cause of the education crisis.Tria emphasized that corruption has become deeply ingrained in the system to the point of public desensitization, yet insisted it must never be accepted as part of the country’s culture.“Iyong problema natin iyong mga dead consciences. Iyong wala nang konsyensya. And the problem is we don’t have burial grounds for dead consciences. And that’s why they keep haunting our society. They keep lingering in our society,” Tria said.

Catholic education leaders pressed the government to strengthen public–private partnership in education, warning that the country’s deepening learning crisis cannot be solved without addressing corruption and sustaining the viability of private schools.

Catholic education leaders pressed the government to strengthen public–private partnership in education, warning that the country’s deepening learning crisis cannot be solved without addressing corruption and sustaining the viability of private schools.

Catholic educators press gov’t for stronger partnership, warn against corruption as root of education crisis

News

Entertainment

Lifestyle

Sports

Metro.Style

More

Traffic

Manila

Horoscope

Nation

Catholic educators press gov’t for stronger partnership, warn against corruption as root of education crisis

Francis Orcio,

ABS-CBN News

Published Sep 30, 2025 05:48 PM PHT

Read More:

CEAP

Catholic

Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines

flood control

corruption

ABS-CBN is the leading media and entertainment company in the Philippines, offering quality content across TV, radio, digital, and film. Committed to public service and promoting Filipino values, ABS-CBN continues to inspire and connect audiences worldwide.

Corporate

Investors

Governance

International Distribution

Corporate

Governance

Investors

International Distribution

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

AI Policy

Terms of Service

Advertise with Us

© 2026 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2026 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2026 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.