The perceived growing access to basic education among Filipinos is partly celebratory, as the same growth is not seen in all sectors of Filipino society, especially the Indigenous Peoples of Mindanao.
In the recent State of the Nation Address, President Rodrigo Duterte commended the Department of Education’s (DepEd) initiatives, which gave over 27 million Filipinos access to basic education this year. Aside from grantees from kindergarten up to senior high school, adult learners and out-of-school youth were also given schooling through other means such as the Alternative Learning System.
On the surface, the improved rate of enrollees seems commendable, giving the impression that the government is upholding its constitutional mandate to make quality education accessible to all.
However, for the country’s largest indigenous group, the Lumads, the opposite is true.
Earlier this month, DepEd ordered the temporary shutdown of 55 Lumad schools operated by Salugpungan Ta’ Tanu Igkanogon Community Learning Centers in the Davao region for allegedly deviating from the basic curriculum and using “left-leaning” teaching methods. Two years ago and for the same reason, President Duterte threatened to bomb Lumad community schools in Mindanao.
Aside from the fact that these acts show a blatant disregard for the right to due process, these have become manifestations of how the government turns a blind eye to every Filipino’s basic right to education. Moreover, international laws calling for non-discrimination against children’s rights to education and the reinforcement of democracy through education are violated.
The UP Journalism Club strongly believes that accessibility to education is a must; that a state that educates every child is doing its bare minimum, with so much more that needs to be done to help them reach their fullest potential.
Education must root from inclusivity, and cannot remain reserved for certain demographics, as this implies that it as a privilege rather than a right, a chance rather than an assurance, a luxury rather than a necessity.
Schools disrupted by threats and brute force only inflict fear among children and give the impression that education is far from reach. It is when we make education selective and inaccessible to marginalized sectors that we create further divisions and differences among ourselves and, in the process, hold ourselves back from progress.
We call on the government to ensure that the right of every Filipino to quality education is upheld, for education shapes minds to be critical and lives to be transformed.
