There is perhaps no greater national lie than the promise of “free education.” The Constitution enshrines it as a right and politicians routinely weaponize it as a talking point. For millions of learners, “free” means learning under collapsing roofs, sharing textbooks that arrive late or not at all, and crowding 50 to 70 students into rooms built for 30. They are the daily geography of inequality, carved into our school system by decades of neglect. This is the real price of “free” education: a country where opportunity is sold to those who can afford it, and withheld from those who cannot. Ad infinitum, free education is at risk.

Source: Philippine Star January 04, 2026 09:40 UTC