Whatever their religious affiliation may be, Filipino parents traditionally have held that the education and upbringing of their children, especially in human and spiritual values, must begin at home. Filipino parents in general accept the following principle enunciated in Paragraph 2228 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: “Parents’ respect and affection are expressed by the care and attention they devote to bringing up their young children and providing for their physical and spiritual needs.  As the children grow up, the same respect and devotion lead parents to educate them in the right use of their reason and freedom.”  Like other parents all over the world, they recognize the fact that in some aspects of the upbringing of their children, they need the close cooperation of outside individuals or institutions in carrying out this task of education.  This is especially true in the fuller development of the intellectual endowments of their children as well as in the formation of moral character.  This partial dependence of parents on outside help is a reality even in what is known as home schooling, in which materials developed experts in pedagogy are still not only useful but necessary in their mentoring of their children.

            Thus, parents still have to decide on how to obtain this outside help in their primary responsibility of educating their children.  As Paragraph 2229 of the Catechism states, “As those first responsible for the education of their children, parents have the right to choose a school for them which corresponds to their own convictions.  This right is fundamental.  As far as possible parents have the duty of choosing schools that will best help them in their task as Christian educators (in the case of Christian parents).  Public authorities have the duty of guaranteeing this parental right and of ensuring the concrete conditions for its exercise.”  In a free society, the State cannot compel parents to send their children to designated schools, whether public or private.  The principle of subsidiarity is of greatest importance in this area of parental responsibility.  They must be given complete freedom to decide how and where they will impart education to their children, i.e. at home, in private institutions or public schools. 

            The reality in the Philippines is that more than 90 percent of pupils at the basic education level study in public schools that are fully funded by the State.  This is explained both by the unequal distribution of income which makes it difficult, if not impossible for most families to afford a private education.  Fortunately, the Philippine Constitution mandates the State to provide free public education at the basic education level (K to 12).  It is important to point out that there is no constitutional mandate for the State to provide free tertiary or post-secondary education.  This means that even if the budget for the Department of Education is already the highest among all the  departments in the Executive branch, as long as the State is clearly unable to deliver high-quality basic education to all Filipino children, it is prudent not to create too many state colleges and universities (SUCs).   Tertiary education can be more realistically assigned to the private sector, either through not-for-profit (especially religious schools) or for-profit ones.

            Because of their smaller numbers and greater financial flexibility, private schools at the basic educational level can involve the parents of the pupils more actively in the educational process.  This does not mean, though, that public schools need not make the effort to also involve the parents of their pupils in some aspects of the education of their pupils.  As we shall see later, there have been some very successful attempts to involve parents of public school pupils in some aspects of the education of their children, no matter how difficult the effort may be because of the lack of time of the less economically endowed parents who do not have the leisure that the parents of private school pupils enjoy.

            My first encounter with parents who were actively involved in the education of their children, in cooperation with a formal schooling system, was with that of the Montessori schools that started in the late 1960s.  As described in great detail by an acquaintance of mine during college years, Preciosa Silverio Soliven (spouse of the late famous journalist Max Soliven) in an article that appeared in a Philippine daily on May 31, 2018 , celebrating the 50^th anniversary  of the Montessori revolution in Philippine education, the Montessori system is a way of life, not just a method combining philosophy and behavioral psychology as discovered by Maria Montessori in Italy.  From the very beginning, parents of those who studied in the schools using the Montessori system were involved in this lifelong system of education from preschool to adolescence.  This method of child education was introduced into the Philippine educational system by the Operation Brotherhood Montessori schools and its out-reach Montessori Pagsasarili preschools for underprivileged children in160 sites in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.  Ms. Soliven founded in 1966 the Operation Brotherhood Monessori Center, Inc., the largest Montessori School in the world,

            The Montessori method of education, as described in Wikipedia is a type of educational method that involves children’s natural interests and activities rather than formal teaching methods.  A Montessori classroom places an emphasis on hands-on learning and developing real-world skills.  It emphasizes independence and it views children as naturally eager for knowledge and capable of initiating learning in a sufficiently supportive and well-prepared learning environment.  It also discourages some conventional measures of achievement such as grades.  Because the very young age of the pupils necessary requires the close coordination and cooperation with the parents, the method lends itself to a great deal of parent involvement in the educational process.

            About a decade later, a group of parents in the Metro Manila area, inspired by the teachings of St. Josemaria Escriva, Founder of Opus Dei, started what they called the Parents for Education Foundation (PAREF).  This model of parent participation went further than just involving parents in the actual educational process that the school is implementing, as in the case of the Montessori model.  The involvement of the parents starts from the very establishment of the school, and  its subsequent  financing, marketing,  and management of operations. The original founding parents were Dr. and Mrs. Placido Mapa Jr. (the late Chairman of the Development Bank of the Philippines and NEDA Director General); Mr. and Mrs. Miguel Guerrero; Mr. and Mrs. Ernesto Lagdameo, Jr.; Mr. and Mr. Manuel de Leon; Mr. and Mrs. Victor Puyat; and Architect and Mrs. Francis Arcenas.  The common denominator among these founding parents was the large size of their respective families (average size of 6 to 8 children).  The first two schools they founded were Woodrose School for girls and Southridge School for boys.  To be continued.