“Wow, Pisay! Ang talino mo siguro, ano?”
(You must be really smart, right?)
For graduates of Philippine Science High School (PSHS or Pisay), this reaction may sound familiar. But who can blame people for being impressed that someone they know is from the leading science high school in the Asia-Pacific region?
However, what many don’t see is that for every student who gets into Pisay, countless others are left behind—not because they lack the skill, but because the system simply cannot accommodate them.
Every year, thousands of Grade 6 students take the National Competitive Examination (NCE) in hopes of securing their place in the country’s premier science high school. Yet, the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM II) reported that only 5,544 out of 11,351 qualifiers last January were given the chance to confirm their enrollment. Meanwhile, half of them were “rejected” by the Pisay System (PSHSS) because the institution can only cater to a limited number of students.
While this issue can be resolved by campus renovations and teaching staff expansion, the PSHSS does not have the budget to carry these out. Despite a P55-million increase in the overall funding in this year’s National Expenditure Program, eight of the 16 campuses were still slated for budget cuts. Even Department of Science and Technology Secretary Renato Solidum Jr. called for increased funding to build more Pisay campuses across the nation.
To confront this unfortunate reality, Sen. Win Gatchalian proposed Senate Bill No. 2974 or the Expanded Philippine Science High School (PSHS) System Act, a bill aiming to expand the PSHSS by having a maximum of two Pisay campuses in each region, excluding the National Capital Region.
On the surface, the bill seems like a step toward making science education more accessible. After all, having more campuses meant more students getting in. However, why should high-quality science education be provided only to those who are considered the “best of the best”? Why should this remain a privilege reserved for a select few, while the majority of Filipino students struggle in underfunded and poorly equipped schools?
If the government truly wants to make quality science education accessible to all Filipinos, then they should not just solely look into the Pisay system. With longstanding problems such as shortages of classrooms, inadequate curriculums, and lack of qualified teaching staff, it is no surprise that the country does have an education crisis at large. This was further proven by the Programme for International Student Assessment scores: Filipino students ranked last in reading and second-to-last in math and science among 79 countries in 2018, and there was no significant improvement in the results last 2022.
Severe underfunding was one of the key issues raised in the January 2024 EDCOM II report, stating that the Philippine government has a “historical and persistent underinvestment” in education, therefore resulting in the decline of its quality. Despite receiving an allocation of P1.05 trillion in the 2025 national budget, the country still fails to meet the UNESCO-recommended education spending benchmark of four to six percent of the gross domestic product.
To make matters worse, the budget for the sector is often mishandled. From delays in the procurement of academic materials to the declining proportion of poor grantees to financial assistance programs, it is clear that the education sector needs not only to become better financed but be better governed as well.
While efforts to upgrade our country’s science high schools are welcome, only those handpicked by the system can actually experience the superb quality of education that comes with it, leaving millions of students with inadequate learning facilities and curriculums. Instead of fine-tuning already well-established institutions, the government should widen its scope and prioritize schools that need help the most.
By employing systemic changes that address the deepest roots of our failing education system, we can slowly ensure that quality education can be given to all Filipinos. Quality education is not something that should only be given to a selected few—it is our fundamental right to explore and learn under holistic circumstances that can bring out everyone’s potential.
This article was published in The LaSallian‘s March 2025 issue. To read more, visit bit.ly/TLSMarch2025.
