Exploring educational politics in two local colleges in Cebu Province, Philippines

This study attempts to provide a modest contribution to the field of educational politics orpolitics of education, an area least explored by most educational scholars in the Philippines. This looks at how the experience of two local colleges and universities (LCUs), which catered primarily for underprivileged youths, have confronted issues beyond the immediate realm of education i.e. politics, patronage and contestation for power and influence. Distinct from the private tertiary higher education institutions and State Universities and Colleges of the country, these LCUs have been growing substantially nationwide for the past decade. Yet, what appears to be an uncharted territory for most local governments, the venture into the higher education has been regarded as a form of poverty alleviation and investment in human development especially that these caters primarily to the poor and underprivileged. This study however reveals that these schools are beset with both institutional and curricular challenges. Using key informant interviews, reviewing various pertinent documents and analysing published articles in local and national broadsheets pertaining to the said colleges, the experience of the two LCUs demonstrated how contentious public education ventures can be. As such, it engenders resistance and opposition which ultimately compel its stakeholders to navigate through the political process.

Keywords – higher education institutions, local colleges and universities, local government units, politics, politics of education