Leave it to seasoned educator and former DepEd Secretary Edilberto de Jesus to pen an article that hits two birds with one stone.
In his February 18, 2008 OpEd column for the Manila Bulletin, de Jesus wrote about the 1000 Teachers Program launched by Philippine Business for Education and also touched on the prevailing scandals of government corruption that have made front page news of late. The ingenious element of the piece lies in his argument that the two are related: precisely because there are inefficiencies in and leakages from government funds, education does not get properly financed. It is for this reason that private groups such as PBEd have to step in, despite the fact that their philanthropic contributions pale in comparison to the amounts budgeted from government coffers.
In this regard, de Jesus makes the sobering argument that generating enough funds is a necessary but not sufficient condition to improving education in the country; of even greater import is putting what funds are available to good use.
For all its simplicity, de Jesus offers a thoroughly engaging take on the issue that makes for worthwhile reading.
