As the Philippines’ learning crisis persists, Dabawenyo youth have risen to defend their right to an “accessible, quality, and democratic” education during the Rise for Education (R4E) Davao’s WAT HAFEN, EDUK RAYT?: State of the Youth Address (SOYA) 2025.

The event brought together student leaders and journalists to discuss issues currently plaguing the country’s education system and to closely examine the state of education in Davao City.

The Department of Education (DepEd) found that social and economic challenges often drive students to drop out of school as they grapple with family responsibilities, calamities, and distance between schools and their homes.

Highlighting these realities, Kabataan Partylist representative Atty. Renee Co called on the youth to “change the education system” to become one that is “nationalist, scientific, and mass-oriented.”

“The youth are the shapers of the future, and if they make their voices heard and known, they will be able to shift policies to the favor of the marginalized sectors, ” Atty. Co emphasized.

R4E-Matina coordinator Roziel Saguin condemned the education system as “commercialized” that prioritizes profit over treating it as a universal right.

“Quality of education has become contingent sa kung kinsa lang ang maka-afford. Quality education has become output productivity-based diploma mills,” Saguin explained.

Atty. Co further affirmed the need for a “great overhaul” in the nation’s educational services.

“Unang una, [ang] budget, dapat six percent, not less, more pa. Right now it’s at 3.2 percent, and that’s why we’re seeing a deficit in classrooms, in the number of universities na pwedeng pasukan ng mga kabataan.”

This deficit is seen in the overcrowding of students in undersupported public higher education institutions (HEIs).

Atty. Co pointed out that 88% of HEIs in the country are privately owned, where 54% of Filipino students are enrolled. 

“Ibig sabihin, 46% ang nasa public. Sa one out of 10 schools na yan, nagsisiksikan diyan [sa public]. Yung public, napakababa ng quality ng facilities, halos wala,” she added. 

Saguin also criticized the education system for prioritizing the production of “cheap, docile laborers for the job market to be employed beyond our [borders],” citing R4E’s assessment of Davao City HEIs.

Saguin then noted that the Davao youth have demonstrated a student body’s ability to push forward particular demands in their respective universities and colleges.

“In Holy Cross Davao kay naa silay annual evaluation na ginahatagan jud ug importansya and there are even instances where teachers are expelled because of the evaluation. In SPC, there are repressive policies, but ang ilang student publication has become very vocal.”

However, in some institutions, narratives of repression still emerge as students remain hesitate to fill out feedback forms in fear of their identities not being protected.

“Students are beginning to accept repressive conditions in these universities and are normalized,” Saguin warned.

Nescience is R4E Davao’s initiative to examine the lived experiences of students in tertiary education in Davao City, with its second iteration aiming to assess whether or not the city’s tertiary education is accessible, quality, and democratic.

Co-organized by R4E Davao with local chapters of the National Union Students of the Philippines (NUSP) and the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP), SOYA 2025 was held last July 19, drawing youth representatives from colleges, universities, organizations, and formations across Davao City.