EDUCATION is perhaps the most important function of the State. This function is realized through the schools, whether it be in public or private or religious schools. The cost of delivering basic education to 27 million Filipino learners and college education to 4 million students is high that even the government cannot afford entirely. Even as we await the President’s signature on the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education bill, free education is still only up to secondary level. The mandate of the Constitution is to protect and promote the right of all citizens to accessible and quality education at all levels.
Accessible education is a shared responsibility among the parents, government, and the private sector. But even as the State recognizes the complementary roles of the public and the private schools, this principle has yet to be operationalized. We need to legislate complementarity. While the private and religious schools share in the responsibility of government to deliver education, it should be able to thrive and maintain its distinctiveness, as non-government schools. Over the past few decades, the private schools have been fighting against legislative measures and administrative issuances that make them look like public schools.