Suchergebnisse

The Philippines has put a lot of importance to the basic education sector. The immediate past government provided more resources to the sector, in support of the Philippine Development Plan as well as to attain commitments to global goals, including the Millennium Development Goals and its successor, the Sustainable Development Goals (which include SDG4 to achieve quality education for all). In this paper, various education indicators sourced from administrative reporting systems of the Department of Education, as well as sample surveys conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority, are examined for monitoring and evaluation of the basic education sector. Further, these data sources on education statistics are scrutinized for describing persisting disparities among various groups (e.g., boys versus girls, poor and nonpoor, urban and rural population), and for probing into why some children continue to be out of school. Measurement issues and policy implications are also discussed.

While the Philippines has had a new economic growth trajectory in recent years, the country has had little progress in reducing poverty and in making growth more inclusive. This paper examines trends in macroeconomic statistics, and the progress government has had in its Philippine Development Plan and in achieving the Millennium Development Goals. It discusses the need to address the lack of political inclusion. It also looks into income distribution and income inequality; and proposes a definition of the middle-income class, laying down seven income classes based on the national poverty lines. It also profiles the middle-income class vis-a-vis other income classes given the potential of the middle-income class to sustain economic growth. It argues that government need not only focus its attention to the poor, but also strengthen the middle class toward improving opportunities and reducing inequalities.