Project Development Institute

... building self-reliant communities through people’s initiatives

Public-Private Partnership
in Education

By Ramon T. Ayco, Sr.

March 2007

44 Gen. Segundo Street, Heroes Hill,

Sta. Cruz, Quezon City Philippines
 Public-Private Partnership in Education
By Ramon T. Ayco, Sr.
March 2007

Introduction

Project Development Institute (PDI) is deeply committed to poverty alleviation in the

countryside and to rural development. PDI’s goal is geared towards the democratization of assets
specifically the distribution of agricultural lands for the landless peasants through the
implementation of Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) and the recognition of the
rights of the indigenous peoples (IPs) in their ancestral domain claim through the implementation
of Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA).

But success in CARP and in IPRA per se is not a guarantee for continuous development towards
poverty alleviation for the peasants and IPs. For one, because of intense hardship in living and
lack of knowledge and skills in managing their resources, many peasant and IP beneficiaries end
up selling their newly acquired property or property rights and remain poor.

PDI helps peasants and IPs in their economic production and livelihood by providing them
economic support services. But this is not enough. PDI believes the people need education if
only to acquire knowledge and skills in order for them to become effective managers of their
own economic resources and become self-reliant in their endeavour for continuous development.

The Need for Public-Private

Partnership in Education

The Philippines faces overwhelming problems in education. We cannot depend on the

government alone to shoulder the task of educating people especially the poor. On the contrary,
the government itself is one of the problems in education by putting it in the least priority and
giving it a very low budget. Any private entities interested in helping the poor people through
education must implement its own program for education.

But any program for education to be implemented by private sector, commercial or non-
commercial, needs to conform to the national education system being implemented by the
government. Especially those education programs intended for the poor people must be in
accordance with the national education system if only to become legitimate and be
acknowledged by the society. Conforming to the national education system is the first level of
public-private partnership in education.

PDI’s education programmes do not only conform to the education system of the country. In the
implementation of its education programmes especially its non-formal education program, PDI
also partners two government agencies – The Department of Education (DepEd) and the
National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP); and one private institution -- The Angping
Development Foundation for Education (ADFE). Partnering with government agencies and
private entity for education, like DepEd and ADFE, in implementing private sector education
program is a higher form of public-private partnership in education.
The national education system

The national education system being implemented by the government embraces formal and non-
formal education. Formal education is a sequential progression of academic schooling at three
levels, namely elementary, secondary and tertiary education. The 1987 Philippine Constitution
mandates the establishment of a system of free public education in the elementary and high
school levels.

The first level, elementary or primary education involves compulsory six grades in public
schools and seven grades in some private schools, in addition to optional pre-school programmes
(DECS, 1994). The pre-school education usually consists of kindergarten schooling and may
cover other preparatory courses. At the age of 3 or 4, a pupil may enter nursery school until 5
and at 6 years old proceeds to grade one.

The second level or secondary education corresponds to four years of high school, the
prerequisite of which is completion of the elementary level. A student enters the secondary level
at age 12 and graduates at 15. There are two types of secondary schools according to curricular
offerings: the general high school and the vocational high school. General high schools offer the
four-year general academic secondary curriculum while vocational high schools offer the same
secondary curriculum with additional vocational courses. Science high schools offer an enriched
Science, Mathematics, and English curriculum in addition to the requirements of the secondary
education curriculum.

The third level is tertiary education or higher education where a student enters at age 16. Higher
education is divided into collegiate, master’s and doctorate levels in various programmes or
disciplines. Post-secondary schooling consists of two or three-year non-degree technical or
technician courses.

Non-formal education, which includes the acquisition of knowledge even outside school
premises, is aimed at attaining specific learning objectives. For a particular clientele, especially
the out-of-school youth or adult illiterates who cannot avail themselves of formal education,
there is, for example, a functional literacy programmes for non-literate and semi-literate adults
which integrate basic literacy with livelihood skills training.

The responsibility of administering, supervising and regulating basic education (elementary and
secondary education) is vested in the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS)
while that of higher education is lodged in the Commission on Higher Education (CHED). The
post-secondary technical-vocational education is under the Technical Education and Skills
Development Authority (TESDA) which is also in charge of skills orientation, training and
development of out-of-school youth and unemployed community adults.

PDI’s education programme

PDI has a vision of building and strengthening peasant and IP communities and People’s
Organizations (POs) committed to the pursuit of genuine agrarian reform and rural development.
This vast human capital in the rural areas, although abused and underutilized, is one of the major
determinants of economic growth. Human capital is embodied in individual skills and knowledge
and can be created through educational opportunities.

Every year not only a good number of meritorious students in the rural areas are deprived of
higher education, but many of them are also compelled to discontinue their education half way
through, because of poverty.

Most of these children belong to poor families that earn their livelihood from agriculture, either
from small farming or day labourer. Others earn their income from mostly non-agricultural
activities-- small business or self employment. Some are totally jobless, living on charity and
very occasional work. The depth of poverty of the student families can be gauged by looking at
the average household income and the size of these families. Their average monthly household
income is between 1,500 pesos and 2,500 pesos. The median family size is between 6 and 7
members.

Thus, children of poor households are less likely to enrol in school, particularly in secondary and
higher education. Considering all these problems, PDI understands that investment in education
of the poor will be critical for breaking the inter-generational cycle of poverty, especially in rural
areas.

The PDI Education Support Program (ESP) was launched in 1995 in support of the overall
program on rural empowerment through agrarian development. It focused on peasant and
indigenous youth as the main target groups. The program has evolved into a comprehensive
program for human capital development that addresses not only the education and literacy
dimensions of poverty but also the knowledge and skills requirements of community institution
building.

The education support is approached through a multi-pronged delivery system that includes:
college scholarship for deserving youth; non-formal education for peasant and IP children and
adult; and the Complementary Alternative Education Support (CASE) for organized peasants
and IPs. PDI’s partnership in education with the government is reflected most to the first two:
college scholarship and non-formal education,

1. College scholarship

PDI’s college scholarship program is being sponsored by Angping Development - Foundation

for Education (ADFE) and Sunny Sevilla Foundation (SSF). They have been providing funds to
the program since 1995.

PDI college scholarship program provides timely support for the needs of peasant and IP youth.
The scholarship comes at a critical period when families decided whether or not to send their
children to college or to throw them into uncertainty in the labour markets.

PDI continues to provide higher education opportunities for deserving rural youth especially
those with potential for thickening the second line leadership of the POs, those who can
contribute to asset development in both agrarian reform and ancestral domain arenas and those
who have their communities at heart. The mechanisms for selection have been established
allowing adequate requisites for fairness and competitiveness.

PDI’s college scholarship program grant provisions for a need and merit based scholarship to
poor grant students to cover out their educational related expenses for studying in state colleges
and universities, In general, the scholarship covers any course leading to a Bachelor’s degree not
requiring more than 5 years of study. It is also available for two-year courses. Courses related to
community and national developments are given preference.

Each scholarship grant provides educational benefits substantial enough to cover costs of tuition,
matriculation and other school fees. Book and clothing allowance of Php 1,500.00 is provided.
Monthly stipend of Php 650.00 to support living expenses is also given to each scholar.

The main factors to be considered in connection with a student’s application for a scholarship
grant are: a. scholastic record; b. economic status; c. health; d. aptitude for community and
national development work; e. moral character; f. qualities of leadership; g. oral and written
facility of communication.

A student can apply for a scholarship by accomplishing the application form which can he
obtained from the PDI National Office or from any of its area offices. The applicant must obtain
the endorsement/recommendation of a PDI-accredited People’s Organization (farmers,
fisherfolks, women or indigenous people). Deadline for submission of application requirements
is fixed each year.

Twenty scholarship grants have been made available each year to qualified candidates. PDI may
increase/decrease the number of scholarships per year depending on available funding or on the
need to replace those who have been unable to maintain their scholarships.

The following are the areas from which the scholars are selected. PDI ensures that the regions
are represented in each batch.

1. Zambales
2. Laur, Nueva Ecija
3. Tarlac
4. Bulacan
5. Metro Manila
6. Palawan
7. Bataan
8. Pampanga

The process involved in the selection of scholars is based on the result of two inter-related
phases:

a. Competitive written examination involving essay writing on three areas: self-

introduction, rationale for selection of college course and its future contribution to the
 applicant’s community, and future scenario of the applicant’s personal and professional
life after five years.

b. Oral interviews conducted by PDI representatives in the area and a final interview by the
PDI Executive Director,

Successful candidates are informed of their admission into the program by letter through the PDI
Area Coordinator. A Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between PDI and the scholar and
her/his parents is subsequently signed.

In order to maintain the Scholarship, a grantee must:

1. Enrol in a state college or university

2. Take the regular load stipulated in the course prospectus,
3. Have a passing grade or all subjects including non-academics such as PE, NSTP, etc.
4. Remain single throughout the scholarship term. Pregnancy / or marriage will mean
expulsion from the program.
5. Attend discussion and meetings of scholars regularly scheduled by PDI
6. Attend and participate in PDI-sponsored organized community activities.

Scholars are monitored through the following:

1. Accepted students and their parents are required to undergo an orientation seminar on
the requirements of the PDI Education Program.

2. A Memorandum of Agreement outlining the PEP requirements is signed in a simple

ceremony by PDI, the scholar and the parents of the scholar.

3. A PDI staff is tasked in each area to monitor the scholar’s academic standing. The PDI
staffs also serves as counsel/adviser to the scholars.

4. Monthly meetings are conducted for the scholars. These serves as a forum for bonding,
discussion and regular consultation. Scholars also attend a general assembly each
semester.

5. Home visits are conducted periodically by the PDI staffs as part of their monitoring
activities.

Orientation Program for the Scholars

PDI provides orientation seminars not only to communities, farmer groups and women
but also to the youth, especially the PDI College Scholars. The seminars include
discussions on how the vicious cycle of poverty came about both historically and
ideologically.
 And since greater part of PDI’s work is focused with community organizing and
strengthening, the scholars, with their recognition of their important role as catalyst of
change in their respective communities, must learn how to struggle against poverty
through community effort and people’s initiatives.

Understanding the current state of rural community organizing in the Philippines entails a
complete grasp of all organizing efforts exerted by the Filipino people throughout history.
Organizing among the powerless has been long part of the Philippine scene, though in
many cases it was done without the systematized body of concepts, principles and
approaches that we know today.

Exposure and Volunteerism

The Scholars also go on alternate provincial exposures to determine best practices in

leadership and community organizing. Exposures and immersions in communities may
take days or even weeks if the academic schedules of the students allows for it. During
these exposure trips, scholars compare and observe varying levels of awareness and
involvement of agrarian and rural development stakeholders at different venues of
participation e.g. people’s organizations meetings, dialogues etc. These trips are designed
to: 1) build and develop youth leadership capacities; 2) help the youth become more
resilient and adaptive; 3) foster lifelong learning; 4) enrich community capacity building;
5) revitalizing and developing communities through the participation of young blood; 6)
create new paradigms for young people to stay in and develop their communities.

Volunteerism

PDI scholars are encouraged to provide volunteer service to their communities, especially
with the people’s organization in their locality.

Individual volunteering is beneficial because it helps build self-esteem, passes on social

values and instils the responsibility of volunteering as a personal commitment by giving
back to the community service.

Through volunteer service, students can strengthen and improve the quality of life within
their communities and help themselves and others to live happier, healthier and more
productive lives. Volunteer work can introduce the scholars to a future career and give
the students valuable experience and insight. It can also be used for college applications
and work applications.

The college scholarship program of PDI started as early as 1995. Ten years thereafter, 164 young
people, who would have otherwise fallen from the education ladder and would have been forced
to accept limited, if not undesirable, options in labor markets, have been graduated from college.
Another 15 scholars graduated from college in March 2006. This brings the total number of
graduates to 179 which also mean that at least 179 families have alleviated their poverty by
acquiring a college educated son or daughter and by having liberated same income to support the
education needs of the younger siblings. This number excludes upcoming graduates. Currently,
there are 37 grantees of which almost 70 percent are females.

Scholarship Grantees for School Year 2OO6-2007

Gender Distribution
Province No. of Grantees
Female Male
Zambales 13 10 3
Nueva Ecija 8 6 2
Palawan 2 1 1
Bulacan 7 4 3
Bataan 3 1 2
Tarlac 1 1 0
Pampanga 3 2 1
Total 37 25 11

The scholarship grants have a straight forward objective of providing opportunities for poor but
deserving youth to acquire college education. Graduated grantees are living proof of the
attainment of the objectives. Not only household needs have been alleviated. The graduates have
emerged as a stronger generation of human resources in rural areas due to their acquired
knowledge and skills, maturity and ability to discern the world round them with greater
confidence.

2. Non-formal Education (NFE)

Initially, the PDI Non-Formal Education Program is supported by the Sunny Sevilla Foundation
(SSF) starting 2003 with the PDI.

In 2004-2006, PDI mobilized SSF resources and leveraged resources from ADFE, SSF, ESP to
bargain with local government units and the Department of Education in order to broaden and
mainstream PDI’s alternative education system. The results have been mutually beneficial and
enabled multilateral exchanges of resources, knowledge and skills.

NFE complements the Alternative Learning System (ALS) Program of the Department of
Education and the results are synchronized with the national education system. The acquired
knowledge and skills of the graduates are granted equivalencies of the education department.
PDI undertakes the challenge of establishing a Non-Formal Education (NFE) program among
indigenous peoples that focus on the following:

1. The promotion of a literacy program to attain basic skills such as numeracy and
functional literacy.

2. The development of livelihood skills which prepare and enhance economic

productivity and/or employment opportunities.
 3. The application of equivalence certifications administered by the formal education
sector (The Department of Education) into the informal sector.

Certainly the NFE responds to the same compelling problem of marginalization of IP

communities whose education forms part of lost opportunities. Their right to education has taken
a new light with the acquisition of ancestral domain rights that require adequate knowledge and
skills in protecting and developing vast tracks of the uplands. NFE has become more relevant at
the current stage IP communities need to develop, protect and strengthen ownership of their
ancestral domains.

Indigenous peoples want to rejuvenate the basic elements of their learning systems, while they
learn new ideas and skills to survive in their rapidly changing environment. Indigenous peoples
want to learn other modem sciences, but in the context of their own culture and in their own
terms and according to their own pace.

Indigenous peoples wanted an education in their own languages, in a manner appropriate to their
cultural methods of teaching and learning. They demand their right to speak their own language,
along or with the practice of their indigenous education, since language cannot be divorced from
the struggle for self-determination and ancestral lands and domains.

Thus, in supporting Alternative Learning System (ALS) PDI is emphatic that assistance must put
premium on addressing the learning needs of the IP communities. This enabling clause is crucial
to secure a planed integration of the local IP population into the mainstream without
compromising their integrity, culture and social practices.

Given this thrust, PDI, in effect, also seeks to re-orient and sharpen ALS to become one that is
truly situation based and action-oriented.

Target Beneficiaries and Areas Covered

PDI supports the implementation of Non-Formal Education for three major indigenous peoples
group in four areas: the Aetas of Botolan, Zambales & Morong, Bataan; the Dumagats of
Dingalan, Aurora; and the Tagbanuas of Coron, Palawan. This is carried out in coordination with
local teachers and para-teachers, barangay governments and the District Offices of the
Department of Education. This assistance seeks to assure the basic learning and capacity building
needs of out-of-school youth and adults who, for various reasons, are unable to obtain formal
schooling.

As a result of NFE implementation for the last three years, a total of 751 (Level -5) learners have
graduated during the 2004-2005 period. In 2004, more than 80 percent of the 368 learners were
Tagbanuas from Palawan and Aetas from Bataan. In 2005, the Tagbanuas of Palawan still
constituted the main bulk of 383 learners for the year. However, Aurora began NFE activities
during the year with a sizable 112 learners. As of last year (2006), there are 537 learners in the
four provinces covered by the NFE program.
 Number of NFE Learners, 2004-2006
Ethnic Number of Learners
Location NFE Partner
Group 2004 2005 2006
Local Government Unit of Coron,
Palawan Tagbanua 184 231 349
Department of Education, Coron District
Local Government Unit of Morong,
Bataan Aeta 124 35 16
Department of Education, Morong District
Local Government Unit of Botolan,
Zambales Aeta 60 35 48
Department ol Education, Botolan District
Local Government Unit of Dingalan, NFE start
Aurora Dumagat 112 124
Department of Education, Dingalan District In 2005
Total 368 413 537

Courses Offered

Non-Formal Education offers basic learning competencies that are parallel to formal school
curricula:

1. Level 0 - offered to those with zero literacy skills

2. Level I - comparable to Grades 1 and 2

3. Level II - offered to semi-literates reinforces basic reading, writing and mathematics skills
comparable to Grades 3 and 4

4. Level III to V - flexible competency exercises designed for functional literates

a. Level Ill - comparable to Grades V and VI

b. Level IV - offered to adequately functional literates comparable to and 2nd years of

secondary school. Also includes livelihood education

c. Level V - autonomous learning level equivalent to 3rd year and 4th year high school

Joint Operations

To implement the NFE Program, PDI and DepEd employs the support of regular school teachers
and trained para-teachers. PDI covers the honoraria of ALS facilitators while DepEd takes care
of other required logistical support, including supplies venue, administrative costs, curriculum
and materials development, training of facilitators etc. Curriculum and materials development
involve the design/production of at least 29 modules for 150 hours of education sessions for each
competency level. Each module, in turn, consists of a teacher’s manual and a session guide.
PDI in coordination with the Department of Education, trains local villagers as para-teachers or
facilitators to teach in their own communities, organize community-based classes, design
appropriate curricula and facilitate close cooperation with the Bureau of Alternative Learning
System of the Department of Education.
It is noteworthy that the Non Formal Education curriculum designed by the Aeta para-teachers of
Zambales has been selected by the Department of Education to serve as a model for the
development of Alternative Learning Curricula because it integrates the prevailing speech
patterns and cultural traditions of the Aetas into the learning process.

Prior to deployment of facilitators, PDI (through the Executive Director) and the Department of
Education (through the District Supervisor) execute a Memorandum of Agreement to provide for
the terms and conditions of the NFE Program. The MOA also establishes the roles and
responsibilities of both parties. In general, PDI as lead agency assumes responsibility over the
project’s execution in collaboration with the NFE Coordinator assigned by the DepEd. The NFE
Coordinator assumes other responsibilities including field coordination, supervision and delivery
of required technical know-how.

PDI practically enjoins and engages the teacher-facilitators, para-teachers, ALS Coordinators and
the District Supervisors of the Department of Education to continuing dialogues and planning
exercises to refine and calibrate the existing ALS curricula in line with obtaining situation and
articulated/expressed needs of ALS students. The effects of these exercises are more patent in
level III curriculum where education on livelihood takes off from recognition of local poverty
situation, identification and analysis of factors that account for such, and establishing the need to
address this poverty while pursuing local development. Subsequently, the resolution to the
problem takes into account community organizing and community building on top of all other
skills that the Alternative Leaning System hopes to impart.

Impacts

1. Impact on Households

• The college scholarship grants have alleviated the income needs of poor families which,
otherwise, could not have produced college-educated children within the family. Although
monitoring data is still deficient, there are indications that the scholarship grants have
allowed grantee families to transfer some incomes for the basic education of younger
siblings.

• The Barefoot Managers Course (BMC) has broadened the outlooks of leaders and potential
leaders — to lead not only their households but to assume key positions in PO and
community affairs.

• The NFE has improved gender relations within the family and household management of
finances. This is most evident among IP women participants who are able to immediately
utilize their new knowledge and skills in co-managing family affairs.

2. Impact on Personal Values and Behavior

• The scholarship grants have an immediate psycho-social impact on the grantees. The grants
directly respond to their right to education, survival and development and come at a critical
 point in their lives when they would have fallen off the education ladder and joined the
ranks of the unemployed.

• The NFE has responded to the rights of children and adults to be educated. It also creates an
environment of opportunity for continuing education especially for adults who never had the
chance to acquire formal education when they were young.

• The BMC has radically changed the attitude and behavior of individuals whose potentials
could not have emerged into full reality. The positive results of the BMC are immediately
evident in the ability of graduates to lead, communicate and radiate their knowledge and
skills to the PO and the community.

3. Impact on the PO and the Community

• The scholarship grants are bestowed through PO and community participation. They have
strengthened the PO’s and community’s sense of ownership of the opportunity. Vice-versa,
scholarship grantees are able to repay this gratitude through voluntary activities and
commitments not only to themselves and their families but also to the PO and the
community.

• The NFE program has become a PO and community affair. It is not only a one-on-one
correspondence between the student and the teacher; rather, it has become a community
activity where successes are co-owned by the community. Moreover the program has
created an environment where people believe in the need for continuing education.

• The BMC has created a new generation of PO and community leaders. They are like the new
pacesetters in PO and community leadership whose abilities and activities radiate and
influence new and potential leaders.

4. Impact on Empowerment and Governance

• It is not yet possible to determine the impact of the scholarships on empowerment and
governance. An expose impact evaluation would be necessary for this purpose.

• Knowledge is empowering as it improves the individual’s capacity to assert his or her rights.
In the case of the BMC, the course has already improved the capacity of POs to engage
government and these engagements have produced positive results in terms of acquisition of
land rights and access to public funds for development needs.

• The NFE program implementation itself is an exercise of empowerment and has contributed
to the improvement of local governance. In the case of Coron (Palawan), program
implementation has induced the DepEd and the LGU to participate and produce equities.
The inadequacies of government have also induced government players to look at NGOs as
positive partners in development.
5. Impact on Gender

• The positive impact on gender is most evident in the NFE and BMC. In the case of the
BMC, the gender fairness of the course has allowed women to prove their worth in
leadership and management of PO and community affairs and this worth is respected by the
men in the PO and the community.

• In the case of the NFE, the educational disadvantage of women, especially among IPs, has
been addressed. NFE women graduates have proven that knowledge power is an instrument
in asserting their rights and equalizing power distribution in the household and community.

6. Impact on Indigenous Peoples

Chinita Aguilar, 22 and Leizle Pulilan, 19, are Tagbanuas from Barangay Banuang Daan in Coron
Island. They are PDI college scholars and are taking up a degree in business entrepreneurship at the
Palawan State University. Leizl is the eldest of 6 siblings and Chinita the second eldest of 5 siblings. Their
parents have not completed elementary education. None of their college or high school age siblings are in
school except for Leizle brother, Carlo, who is in high school. Their barangay has produced only two
college graduates in its history and both have disappeared from the community to look for greener pasture.
Chinita and Leizle would be next batch of college graduates from the barangay, if ever. Chinita is about to
graduate and Leizle has 2 more years to go. Both have plans for the future to utilize what they have learned
from college and produce incomes for their families and their community. They do not have any plan to
leave their community. In fact, they plan to return with a purpose. They have less-than-perfect business
plans in mind but at least they now have the basic foundations for charting their dreams.

• The scholarships have created an opportunity for IPs to acquire college education. These
scholarships have been granted under a setting where IP communities hardly produce
college graduates. The transferred ability to send children to college imbues a sense of pride
and reduces the sense of marginalization in the knowledge market.

• The BMCs have produced IP leaders who are respected not only by their own group but also
by the larger society — by government, by NGOs and by other organizations in civil society
including groups abroad, IP graduates of the BMC have also proven that they can gain
respect from non-IP leaders.

• The NFE has produced literate IPs who can help mitigate distortions in social, political and
economic relations. Literacy and numeracy skills have empowered IPs to demand fairer
relations in markets (e.g. negotiations with traders) or in the governance functions of line
agencies and local governments. The NFE has also improved IP capacity in claiming and/or
managing their ancestral domains.

7. Impact on Education Policy

• The NGO-DepEd-LGU partnership or NFE shows that state-society relations can be

mutually reinforcing. It also shows that the inadequacies of government can be mitigated, it
engages civil society organizations in the implementation of public programs.
 • The NFE (or ALS in DepEd parlance) tends to be on the lower end of government priorities.
PDI’s active involvement in NFE/ALS creates pressure on government to fulfil its
obligations in the education of its citizens.

8. Impact on Child and Youth Development

• The NFE and scholarship grants create an environment for the exercise of child rights to
education. It also enables children to secure their survival and development especially at a
time when the government’s fiscal crisis reduces its ability to provide adequate resources for
continuing education.

• Children participation in the NFE and scholarships serve as breeding ground for youth
leaders with a sense of family and community.

-End-