- The Stratbase Institute recommends that the Philippine education sector leverage public-private partnerships (PPPs) to implement digital-enabled solutions for transforming learning in public schools.
- Stratbase President Victor Andres Manhit emphasized that upgrading classrooms is not just about adding physical space but also about integrating digital learning platforms, teacher support systems, and mixed learning models to improve education quality.
- Manhit urged the government to collaborate actively with the private sector to accelerate digital transformation in education, arguing that doing so will make learning more adaptive, inclusive, and better prepare students for the digital economy—warning that delays will widen educational gaps and harm national competitiveness.
The Philippine education sector can benefit much from public-private partnership (PPP) initiatives focused on digital-enabled solutions to transform the provision of learning, an independent think tank Stratbase Institute has suggested. Stratbase Institute President Victor Andres Manhit made a clarion call for the government to update the nation's classrooms by incorporating digital learning platforms, teachers' support systems, and mixed learning models into the public school system. He emphasized that aside from simply proliferating the availability of internet connections inside schools, it is also important to make available to students the digital tools that will augment and complement their learning process.
Victor Andres Manhit said that though the Department of Education (DepEd) has estimated a shortage of close to 159,000 classrooms by 2028, the issue is not just about the physical facilities but also about how education is conveyed inside these rooms. He added that solely concentrating on constructing additional classrooms without restructuring teaching techniques and technology would be a lost chance to significantly enhance the quality of education. Manhit stressed that technology can have a revolutionary impact on learning by assisting students to enhance their understanding and allowing instructors to track and fill learning gaps in the moment.
These technologies, he contended, would be able to enable teachers to adapt their teaching more effectively, and thus make learning more adaptive and responsive to individual students' needs. Additionally, such technologies can serve as a basis for data-informed decision-making in education so that interventions and supports can be provided on time and with precision where needed most. The embedding of digital solutions can also act as a driver of large-scale systemic reforms, creating an education system that is more inclusive, adaptive, and able to equip students for the challenges of a digital world.
Manhit urged the government to work actively with private sector partners who have the expertise, innovation, and resources to drive forward the digital shift in Philippine education. He opines that with well-designed PPPs, it is possible to accelerate the integration of new education technologies, thus enhancing learning results as well as creating a more skilled and competitive human resource pool. He concluded that the moment to act is now since further delay in adopting digital transformation will merely exacerbate the educational gap and cap the country's ability to perform in a more knowledge-driven global economy.
