Hosannas have been trumpeted by our technocrats, as well as by a few international economic observers, that with a GDP (gross domestic product) growth rate averaging a shade below 6 percent, our country is well on the way to reaching middle-income status.

But is that the reality for the millions of our brethren’s purgatory-like daily existence? Indeed, if we are to look at the skylines of rich Metro Manila urban enclaves like the Makati Central District, Rockwell, BGC or Ayala Alabang, nobody would guess the sad reality that we are actually an impoverished country.

The latest SWS survey of March 2024 revealed the true sentiments of Filipinos, almost 50 percent of whom consider themselves poor. This means they are barely making P15,000 per month, which is about the minimum wage for a 20-working-day month for a daily earner, well short of the estimated monthly cost of living of P30,000 needed to subsist in an urban community.

If you add to this the cost of rent, this means people in this income class have to make do with a bare-bones living standard, which probably means schooling expenses are the last priority to worry about.

Private school tuition and other fees are in a different universe and obviously out of reach for most. So the alternative is to seek enrolment in free public schools, which unfortunately have been severely deteriorating in quality, i.e., makeshift broken down classrooms, severe lack of school supplements, and, woefully, teaching provided by overworked underpaid teachers obliged to pass students even if they don’t make the grade in order not to prejudice their next pay grade adjustments. The inevitable result is graduates ill-equipped to be employed because they can barely speak and write straight English.

The travails of our educational system are universally recognized by all, both the government and the private sector. For those of us who have the capacity and resources but decide to simply shrug it off as “what else is new” and to consider it as just another crisis among a myriad of problems that beset our country, which is anyway the government’s responsibility to solve, is a selfish uncaring mindset that is a disservice to our society.

In fact, Rotary International recognizes the importance of basic education and literacy in any society and has enshrined it as one of the seven areas of service focus. The Philippines falls short in this regard, ranking only 77th among 132 countries in the Global Knowledge Index in 2022. The state of our educational system is like a lighted and fast-burning fuse connected to a catastrophic, social time bomb ominously and insidiously inching its way amidst an ever-growing body of a poorly educated population that could trigger loss of jobs, deterioration of the quality of public and private services, economic dislocation for millions, and social unrest.

Our troubles are compounded by the brain drain of graduates from our school system who have obtained an acceptable level of competence and work experience to more rewarding shores of a growing list of countries, which are equally in dire need of competent service personnel in a wide range of fields. We are losing accountants, teachers, IT personnel, craftsmen, and skilled workers in droves much faster than we are able to produce competent graduates to take their place.

So how should we address this conundrum? It starts by strengthening the basic education and literacy of the youth. In this regard, the Rotary Club of Makati, which is going strong on its 58th year, has answered the call and is trying to do its share to help alleviate our nation’s plight by consistently engaging in projects in support of this objective.

Our flagship project in Basic Education and Literacy is Books Across the Seas, a book donation program in partnership with US-based Brothers, Brothers Foundation and, of late, with local publisher Rex Bookstore, which was started in 1988. To date, we have distributed 15,711,806 books suitable for primary and secondary levels, in cooperation with other Rotary clubs, for free, to 65,125 schools in need and an additional 34,794 to libraries all across the country. We have 60,000 books available, with more to come, for further distribution and we invite other Rotary clubs and civic organizations to contact us for donation arrangements. Call our Chief of Staff, Ron Dotaro, at +63 928 506 5689.

Other than books, our club has also been providing scholarships and even shelter to the brightest and aspiring underprivileged and handicapped youth, and in particular, the poorest of the poor, again in cooperation with other foundations which have the infrastructure to help us execute the various programs.

Our partners in Basic Education and Literacy include, among others, Multinational Foundation, Philippine Institute for the Deaf, Angat Buhay, Teach for the Philippines, Stepping Stone, Dualtech Training Center Foundation, Natasha Goulbourn Foundation, Amorsolo Foundation, Sisters of Mary and Council of Reading Intervention Specialists.

Until next week… OBF!

For comments, email bing_matoto@yahoo.com.