Higher education in the Philippines: the objectives and performance of the national government

Developing countries need a steady stream of qualified professionals if theirdevelopment is to continue. However, many developing countries show apathytowards the expansion of their higher education sector. The reasons behind this areusually based on faulty assumptions about higher education. An examination of thePhilippine Government’s approach to Higher Education suggests that their attitude isbased on three faulty assumptions: 1) Higher education is not important foreconomic growth and development, 2) It is impossible to achieve necessary targets forprimary education unless higher education is neglected, and 3) If higher education isimportant, this can be provided by the private sector, and the State need notnecessarily provide it.