Hostaging Highlights Worsening Education System

This Is the State of RP Education — in the Toilet. Public schools around the country are like this restroom in a Metro Manila school. (Bulatlat photo by Trina Federis)

It’s as predictable as it is insensitive — the Arroyo administration’s reaction to the hostage drama involving Jun Ducat, an owner ot a daycare center in Manila who took hostage 32 of his students and two teachers and complained about corruption in the Philippine government and the failure of the administration to provide adequate education. According to Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, the incident puts the country in a bad light, blaming the intense media coverage of the situation.

Never mind that the drama actually highlights one of the more depressing aspects of the Philippines — the deterioration of its education system and the sheer inability of poor Filipinos to send their children to school.

Check out this Davao Today story on the subject. Check out, too, our coverage of education issues, as well as this package of stories from Bulatlat.

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