The Manila Times

Education stakeholders hope for a bright future

BY KAITHREEN CRUZ

AS incoming Vice President and Education secretary-designate Sara Duterte-Carpio met with outgoing chief Leonor Briones for a formal start of transition, education partners and stakeholders voiced hopes for a brighter future for the sector.

Recognizing that the Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing challenges in education, they vowed to help the incoming Marcos administration solve these hurdles through consultations and planning.

Joseph Noel Estrada, managing director of the Coordinating Council of Private Education Associations, and Ina Aquino, chief of party of the United States Agency for International Development (USaid) ABC+: Advancing Basic Education in the Philippines, said they believe that Duterte-Carpio’s experience as Davao City mayor will help shape her education agenda.

“The heart of education is there, I’ve seen her supporting education in her city. I think she’s very inclusive as well, she understands at least the support that many of the players in education need. She has an understanding of education needs,” Aquino said.

She and Estrada, however, said there is apprehension about her appointment as she will be the Vice President while leading the biggest government agency.

“We hope that across the spectrum of basic education, she will be able to place people who understand the needs of the education sector so she could be supported,” Aquino said.

Duterte-Carpio, according to Estrada, enjoys the confidence of legislators, a factor that could help her persuade Congress to pass needed laws to address issues in the education sector.

Marco de los Reyes, policy and advocacy manager of the Philippine Business for Education, said the Vice President’s governance at the local level would help her manage education and gather support from various partners to support further development of the sector.

“We are hoping that she could use her influence to bring in improvement and [push education as a] priority of the national government. We are hopeful to hear from her and use her political capital or position to bring about an economic strategy that is based on education,” he added,

Ken Paolo Gilo, national chairman of the Student Council Alliance of the Philippines, said the safe reopening of school for face-to-face classes remains a top priority for students.

He called for ensuring concrete guidelines for maintaining public health measures and proper shifting from distance learning to in-person learning.

Gilo cited the need to raise the education budget to the international standard of 6 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) or 20 percent of the national budget.

Vladimir Quetua, president of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers-National Capital Region, agreed, saying the government should prioritize a higher education budget because it was not enough to provide for the needs of learners and teachers despite previous increases.

Quetua pointed out that provision of sufficient and quality learning resources and gadgets for teachers and students, as well as textbooks and modules, is important to make education accessible for all,

De los Reyes said learning inputs and environment are key to quality education.

He said Duterte-Carpio should also look into improving teachers’ benefits so they could better serve learners through raising salaries, providing 15 days’ sick leave, adjusting allowance by P3,000 to cope with inflation and lowering the optional retirement age to 56 years old.

For private schools, Estrada said the Vice President should strengthen publicprivate partnership through financial programs and policy initiatives.

He added that increasing education service contracting (ESC) vouchers and senior high school (SHS) vouchers could make private education accessible to more learners and help the private schools sustain their operations and services to students and employment for their staff.

Estrada sought increased participation of private schools in decongesting public schools. He said incoming Department of Education (DepEd) leaders should implement programs that will encourage schools to be more innovative to continue education remotely and strengthen creativity in designing the curriculum.

The partners and stakeholders have also expressed the need for DuterteCarpio to assess students’ learning and competencies as they shift to remote learning, as some learners find it difficult to adjust to new modalities.

Aquino said the Education department should assess literacy and numeracy for early grade learners, especially those who are yet to set foot in schools, to ensure that they have the foundational skills or else they would be left behind.

De los Reyes also urged the incoming DepEd leadership to assess, too, the basic-education curriculum and improve enrolment in kindergarten and retention of junior high school and senior high school learners in schools.

Quetua underscored the need for learning assessment, including remedial and enrichment classes for those who need it. The partners assured continuous support to the DepEd in implementing plans to improve education delivery in the country through consultations.

Briones assured Duterte-Carpio that she has the full support of the department during the transition period and that they will turn over to her plans to help her, including the Basic Education Development Plan 2030, the country’s first long-term education plan to improve the delivery of education and students’ experiences in learning environments.

She said she has also agreed to continue to work with the Vice President as a consultant.

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2022-06-30T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-06-30T07:00:00.0000000Z

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The Manila Times