Gokongwei Brothers Foundation Rolls Out Educational Platform with Khan Academy

It’s a hard pill to swallow, but the crisis in education in the Philippines is worse than we thought. Millions of learners from all over the country have been struggling to keep up with the rest of the world. 

A report from the World Bank earlier showed nine in every 10 Filipino children—equivalent to as high as 91 percent—are incapable of reading simple age-appropriate texts. According to the 2022 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), the Philippines’ education system is behind by five to six years, with 15-year-old students ranking only 77th out of 81 countries in reading, mathematics, and science.

It is for these same reasons that both the government and the private sector are coming up with more initiatives. The Gokongwei Brothers Foundation (GBF) has partnered with non-profit educational organization Khan Academy to provide educational tools for learners nationwide.

From left to right: Geraldine Acuña-Sunshine, Lance Gokongwei, and Lisa Gokongwei-Cheng at the Gokongwei Brothers Foundation-Khan Academy Philippines partnership launch

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“GBF’s goal is to have a lasting impact on education as part of our contribution to nation building. We continue to educate our next generation, so they have the proper skills necessary when they enter the workforce, [and] to help contribute to our nation’s progress,” Lance Gokongwei, chairman of GBF, said.

Khan Academy provides an educational technology platform that has been adopted in different countries. Founded by financial analyst Sal Khan in 2008, it seeks to close learning gaps and provide differentiated learning across various subjects. 

Khan Academy Philippines, as its first international franchisee, aims to localize its content and lessons by aligning them with the Department of Education’s curriculum. This will be conducted through a team of Filipino educators. Khan Academy’s Philippine arm will also provide tech assistants for teachers and student tutors with individualized learning, as well as data resources on skills mastery.

“We see Khan Academy as an integral part of our plan to reach more learners,” Lisa Gokongwei-Cheng, managing director of GBF, said. “GBF’s approach has always been to work [with] partners because it is only through multi-disciplined teamwork that such a challenge can be solved.”

Khan Academy Philippines, meanwhile, points out how infrastructure remains a problem in the local education sector. It will make its technology available to learners by equipping them with the necessary gadgets and access to the internet.

“Khan Academy can provide a safety net for students who cannot easily get to school, but want to continue learning outside regular school hours and strengthen their skills competency in a range of top-rated courses that [will be] available to them for free,” Khan Academy Philippines CEO Geraldine Acuña-Sunshine said.

Khan Academy Philippines was launched in 34 schools in Metro Manila and Dumaguete City in 2023. For now, it says it will focus on rolling out the program in these areas in the upcoming school year before it expands to more areas.

GBF is the philanthropic arm of one of the biggest conglomerates in the Philippines, the Gokongwei Group. The organization is said to be the largest private-sector provider of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) scholarships across the country.

Esquire Philippines is published by Summit Media, which is also owned by the Gokongwei Group.