Basic education in the Republic of the Philippines has a life span of 10 years, with six years of elementary level attended by children of 6-11 years, and four years of secondary or high school education which admits students aged 12 to 15. Information from the DepEd shows that in 2010, the GER for primary/elementary education was 100.8%, the NER was 85%, completion rate was 72.1% and the transition rate to secondary education was 97%. The GER and NER for secondary/higher education are 82.1% and 62.4% respectively, the completion rate is 73.7% and the overall drop-out rate is 7.9% (UNESCO 2009a, IBE 2011).

There is a significant variance between the access targets as stipulated by international commitments on education (i.e. EFA Goals and MDGs) and the registered performance levels at both elementary and secondary levels of education in the Philippines. The less than desired level of access to basic education is mostly attributed to high population growth rate and high poverty level which hinders parents’ and guardians’ ability to meet the high cost of schooling related expenditure (UNESCO 2009a, IBE 2011).

The quality of basic education in the country seems to have deteriorated over the years. This can be attributed to rapid population growth and inadequacy of funds for education, which translates into shortages in key educational resources such as teachers, textbooks and classrooms. The 2007 DepEd records show that in primary education, 11 schools were observing four shifts, 133 schools were offering three shifts and about 900 schools were providing two shifts a day to accommodate the every-increasing student enrolment. Textbook shortages in 2006 reached 41.32 million books, while the 2007 expected gaps for classrooms and teachers were 29,321 and 16,390 respectively. The academic performance of students in primary education as of 2008 in key subjects declined such that the Philippines was ranked around 41st from among 45 countries in the Trends in International Math and Science Survey (TIMSS). Academic performance at secondary/high school is likewise below average as evidenced by the poor performance of 4th year students in the National Achievement Test (NAT) in 2006 and the Mean Percentage Scores (MPS) in Math, English, Science and Social Sciences. The test scores for the above referred subjects were approximately 44%, 38%, 48% and 48% respectively (UNESCO 2009a).  

The Department of Education is the principal government agency responsible for overall education and manpower development of basic education. The DepEd is organized into two major structural components: the Central Office, which maintains the overall administration of basic education at the national level and the Field Offices, which are responsible for the regional and local coordination as well as overall administration of the Department’s mandate (UNESCO 2009a). The Central Office is comprised of services, bureaus and centers. The five services are the Administrative Service, the Financial and Management Service, the Human Resource Development Service, the Planning Service and the Technical Service. Three staff bureaus provide assistance in formulating policies, standards and programs related to curriculum and staff development. Six centers or units attached to the Department similarly provide technical and administrative support towards the realization of the Department’s vision. The Field Offices consist of 16 Regional Offices each headed by a Regional Director. There are 157 Provincial and City Schools Divisions each headed by a Schools Divisions Superintendent and 48,446 schools supervised by the Schools Divisions Offices (DoE n.d.).

The strategies and priorities under basic education are contained in a package of policy reforms under the Basic Education Sector Reform Agenda (BESRA), The Philippine EFA 2015 Plan and the 2004-2010 Medium Term Philippines Development Plan (MTPDP). Specifically, the priorities under basic education include: closing the gap in the number of classrooms through the construction of approximately 6,000 new ones annually; adoption of double or multi-shift classes; providing high school students scholarships or financial assistance to study in private schools; institutionalizing Alternative Learning Schemes (ALS) in conflict affected areas; promoting school-based management and the implementation of the Optional High School Bridge Program; upgrading the quality of pre-service teachers and providing continuous in-service training; and rationalizing the basic education budget (UNESCO 2009a).