schooling in da Philippines

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I recently caught up with an ex at napag-usapan namin ang tuition sa Pinas. Malapit nang mag-highschool ang panganay nya at dahil plano ko rin pag-aralin ang anak ko sa Manila, I got curious as to how much they are paying for education.

They pay P35k/year for his son's tuition at a small school within their village. I thought that wasn't bad, but when he mentioned that his friends' kids tuitions nagulat ako! P80k/year for a child to study at San Agustin Makati! I didn't ask kung anong grade level na yung mga bata pero nonetheless mahal pa rin.

Would I be willing to send my child to private (and prominent) elementary and high schools? Definitely not.

I didn't come from a prominent school, not as prominent as San Agustin anyway. I studied at a prominent university though. I met really rich kiddos at uni but I realized soon din na wala namang pinagkaiba ang natutunan nila sakin. We all started from scratch when we entered uni life.

Saving for college
We have been saving $100/month towards our child's college education. Ayoko kasing magka-student loan sya in case plano nyang mag-aral sa ibang bansa. Pag wala na kaming utang, I will bump our savings to $200/month and then invest some of it until he gets to uni age. Wala rin akong problem kung mag-aral sya sa Pinas for college. The Philippines have produced really bright students who excel in their chosen careers.

That said, ok lang samin kung sa less-prominent or semi-private school sya mag-aral but we are gearing up for the best university education for him. Sad to say, best can sometimes mean expensive maski saang bansa ka pa tumingin.

I researched online for pictures of San Agustin's facilities. Hands down ang ganda, but then are they enough to warrant a tuition of such scale? The sosyal side of me says yes, pero my husband and I are after my child to learn and to enjoy the process of learning. The physical aspect of his learning, ie school, will never indicate that at all.

Teacher:Student ratio
Sa school ng anak ng ex ko, it's 1:30; sa San Agustin it's 1:50. Pareho lang din ang ratio ng highschool ko to San Ago eh :) Same curriculum din naman. Yun nga lang wala kaming swimming pool. Ang anak ko pa naman ay mahilig sa tubig. Before he turns 4 I bet marunong na syang lumangoy dahil ngayon pa lang ay marunong-runong na sya.

Sorry I digressed. Anyway, may point ako about the ratio. It does matter dahil not all students have the same need. With a smaller ratio, a teacher can assist the struggling students. The teachers will have more energy at the end of the day din. Less masungit! :)

What do you think about paying tons of money to send your kid to primary and secondary educational institutions?