GLOBAL Investment banker Stephen Cu-Unjieng on Monday stressed that the learning crisis in the Philippines will not be solved by opening up the education sector to foreign investors.

Cu-Unjieng explained that schools or universities that might enter the Philippines won’t likely get into mass education.

“They’re not going to get into mass education. In every country, that is the government’s job—to provide education for the general population. And you don’t need foreign capital or foreign institutions to do that,” he said.

“If you wanted their expertise, then hire them as consultants. I mean, it’s really up to the government for the public school system to improve their game,” he added.

The banker further said that foreign investments in education won’t affect and improve the major challenges in Philippine education, except maybe tangentially.

“It might force some of the leading local schools to improve their game,” he said.

It can be recalled that data from the Programme for International Student Assessment, showed that the scores garnered by the Philippines in math, reading, and science were all below the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development global averages.

The Senate Subcommittee on Constitutional Amendments will resume its hearings on economic charter change by discussing the opening of the education sector to foreign ownership.