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By Ma. Lourdes A. Sereno, Special To The
Manila Times
The Philippine dependency ratio is a nightmare.
At 61.66 percent, it means too few Filipinos are
expected to support too many.
That is, those considered employable (ages 15 to
64 years old) are expected to support too many infants, children and
the elderly.
Consider the healthcare requirements of the
dependent population and one can imagine the overwrought burdens
that every employable Filipino has to shoulder.
Consider the level of unemployment, and one
would see that this dependency ratio translates into a nightmare of
a situation.
This can explain why—for the ordinary
Filipino—overseas employment is the only answer to the burdens of
supporting too many children, parents and unemployed relatives.
Youth unemployment is at the alarming rate of
28.26 percent (for the population between 15 and 25 years of age),
and that means our young people, including our graduates, are not
finding enough jobs.
This is the population group that can be
exploited by social destabilizers in other countries, such as
cultural or religious militants and hate crime groups. They are the
most vulnerable to the influence of illegal drug syndicates,
prostitution rings and petty crimes.
The dependency ratio is included in the findings
of the World Competitiveness Yearbook 2009 released this week by the
International Institute for Management Development and the Asian
Institute of Management (AIM) Policy Center.
Suggestions
In education, the Philippines has the worst
pupil-teacher ratio for secondary education in Asia.
Together with Indonesia, this country has the
worst rate of secondary school enrolment also for the same region.
It has the second-worst pupil-teacher ratio for primary education in
Asia, besting only India.
The Philippines received the lowest score (4.13)
in response to the proposition that “Science in schools is
sufficiently emphasized.” Its score is far lower than China’s
(6.11), Indonesia’s (5.44) and Thailand’s (4.61) and half of the
score of leader Singapore (8.32).
To the proposition “Basic research does
enhance long-term economic development,” the Philippines received
the second-lowest score in Asia with 4.38, just a little better than
Indonesia (4.00).
In scientific infrastructure, the Philippines
ranks 56th (Indonesia ranks last) on research and development
expenditure as a percentage of GDP. The government must provide more
efficient budget for science and technology and R&D.
Bright spots
But not all is downhill. Executives in the
Philippines gave a better score to the proposition “Knowledge
transfer is highly developed between companies and universities”
compared to the scores of China, Indonesia, Thailand and South
Korea.
This means that companies in the Philippines see
better value in university education or collaboration relative to
what companies in half of Asian countries realize.
Another ray of hope is that the Philippines
fared relatively well in the aspect of business efficiency, except
for “labor productivity and efficiency” (No. 53).
The AIM Policy Center suggests that, among other
things, the high and unmanaged population growth rate must be
addressed urgently. Investments must be made in backward regions to
generate GDP growth and improve income levels and to encourage
out-migration from overpopulated cities.
More investments are needed in basic
infrastructure, improve distribution network and improve water
transportation for goods. The availability, reliability and reduced
cost of energy must be prioritized.
More investments must be made on basic education
and recruiting more competent teachers emphasizing the sciences. The
quality of scientific and technical knowledge, including
computerization of schools, must be encouraged.
The full version of this article can be
downloaded from: http://www.policy.aim.edu/downloads/serenoSPC2009.pdf.
(Ma. Lourdes A. Sereno is the Executive
Director of the Asian Institute of Management Policy Center.)
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