Is RA 12310 Mathematically Strong?

Marco Angelo Rasos  |  21 October 2025

According to Google AI, RA 12310 aims “to expand the PSHS system by establishing more campuses to increase access to STEM education across the Philippines. It also strengthens the governance of the PSHS system under a unified Board of Trustees. A key goal is to increase the number of graduates pursuing STEM fields.” The purposes and aims of the “Expanded PSHS System Act” are simple and logical, (as every science communication should be), and so the policy can be simplified with a mathematical formula: 

Increase Access to PSHS + Strengthen Governance

= Increase Philippine STEM Human Resources

Here are 3 math challenges to test that policy formula:

1. If the current PSHS System of 16 campuses graduate 1,600 per year, and a new campus opens every 2 years always starting with Grade 7, and they start building the 17th campus in 2025, what year would the System graduate a total of 1,700? How about 1,800?
2. What if we expanded current campuses to accommodate a fraction of the 5,800 qualified students, according to the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2), who were not admitted because of limited slots in the current 16 campuses? How many students per campus can we admit? 
3. If we can’t do #2, how about we apply a “retail brand approach” to campus expansion, with the assumption that we start at 100 students or 3 sections of Grade 7? How does “one campus” in one ‘beautiful’ mall in each of the capitals of the 82 provinces of the Philippines opening in 2026 look like mathematically? How many can we admit on opening day?