Ronald Goseco l October 19, 2024 l The Manila Times
THE saying “health is wealth” rings true for many Filipinos. But it may also mean that health can bring wealth and alleviate poverty. I will try to explain the correlation between the two.
At the recently concluded 56th Finex conference, two speakers discussed issues in their respective fields. Christopher Monterola of the Asian Institute of Management talked about the practical applications of artificial intelligence to achieve Philippine development goals. On the other hand, Education Secretary Sonny Angara presented challenges facing the country’s educational system. These were separate sessions, but they sounded off an alarming trend that could have grave consequences in the near future.
Monterola prefaced his lecture with figures from the Philippine Statistics Authority saying the 4.5 million Filipinos are homeless, 3 million of whom are in Metro Manila. Some 20 million Filipinos live in the slums, 2 million of them in the metro. They form part of the 7 to 10 million Filipinos compromised health-wise due to a lack of basic sanitation and piped water in their homes.
Monterola said 15 percent of the population did not complete elementary education. He pointed out the value of early childhood education. Studies show that average earnings of individuals increase by 10 percent for every education year completed. Citing the Borgen Project, Monterola noted education in the Philippines has been declining in recent years.
In 2022, the Philippines ranked 77th out of 81 countries in terms of strength of the education system, according to the Program for Student Assessment (PISA). The Philippines had a mean score of 355 for mathematics, 347 for reading and 356 for science. PISA gauges the ability of students to use Reading, Science and Mathematics to solve complex questions.
The scores are measured on a PISA scale from low to high proficiency, with level 1c at the lowest level of proficiency and levels 1b, 1a, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 as the highest. The Philippines’ mean score in mathematics is at level 1b; in reading and science at level 1a. Nine out of 10 students tested were unable to understand basic reading materials at age 10.
The country ranked sixth to the last in reading and mathematics, and third to the last in science. Monterola explained these results via current statistics in malnourishment and undernourishment among Filipino children. According to a World Bank report, the Philippines is ranked 93/100 countries with 7.9 percent of its population suffering from malnutrition and 29 percent from undernutrition.
Monterola said undernutrition below age 5 leads to stunted growth that translates to a 22- to 52-percent reduction in potential to earn as an adult. He also presented Unicef (United Nations Children’s Fund) data showing that 95 Filipino children die from malnutrition every day. Twenty-seven out of 1,000 Filipino children do not reach their fifth birthday. A third of Filipino children are stunted, or stand short for their age. Monterola further warned that stunting after age 2 can be permanent, irreversible and even fatal.
Time to act now
The discussions showed how poverty exacerbates both malnourishment and low educational performance. It is clear that malnourishment impacts educational outcomes in the country. It is time for us to act now and work together on a comprehensive plan to address the issue. We need to work together on nutritional interventions.
We can achieve this by expanding the school feeding program that Angara has set in motion. But he said it might require expanding to cover pre-school children. We have to promote the food subsidy program at the Department of Social Welfare and Development to ensure access to balanced meals for all students. We need targeted intervention in schools with poor PISA performance, and we need to promote public-private partnerships to address malnutrition and its dire educational impacts.
We need these reforms in government and the private sector to enable our Filipino learners to meet the challenges of the future.
*** Ronald Goseco is a Finex Foundation trustee. The views and opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of Finex. Photo from Pinterest.