Over the last decade, the Government ofthe Philippines has embarked on an ambitious educationreform program to ensure that all Filipinos have theopportunity to obtain the skills that they need to play afull and productive role in society. The government hasbacked up these reforms, particularly over the last fiveyears, with substantial increases in investment in thesector. As a result, access to basic education hasincreased, particularly for the poorest households, and theoverall learning environment has improved. While theseimprovements have halted a long-term decline in educationsector outcomes, significant challenges remain. Inparticular, the share of national income devoted to basiceducation has only recently returned to the levels of theearly 2000s, and spending per student in the Philippines isstill low compared to spending in other middle-incomecountries. These relatively low levels of spending perstudent are likely to have limited the scope of theimprovements in education outcomes over the last decade.High school completion rates remain low compared with othercountries in the region, and enrollment gaps among differentsocioeconomic groups persist. Stakeholders frequentlyexpress concerns about the quality of the education providedand about the level and breadth of skills that childrenpossess when they leave school. The purpose of this note isto investigate whether the recent increases in the financingfor basic education have improved education outcomes and toidentify any factors that may be constraining theeffectiveness of public spending. It concludes that furtherincreases in public spending will be needed if thegovernment’s ambitious goals for the education sector forthe next five years are to be achieved. However, increasedinvestment will not be enough on its own. It will also benecessary to ensure that these resources are used effectively.
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