Merge 3 education agencies for better coordination, Valisno says

MANILA, Philippines – A former secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd) is recommending the remerging of the three main education agencies to ensure proper coordination in the implementation of programs under the new administration.

Merging together the DepEd, Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) will improve the quality of education in the country, according to former education secretary Mona Valisno.

There have been proposals to integrate the three agencies. But even without a law, Valisno said President Duterte should appoint Education Secretary Leonor Briones as coordinator of the three agencies.

The DepEd, created in August 2001 through the Governance of Basic Education Act, used to be the Department of Education, Culture and Sports until 1994, when CHED was established followed by TESDA in 1995.

The trifocal education system refocused the Dep-Ed’s mandate to basic education and removed the administration of cultural and sports activities from the department.

CHED is currently headed by Patricia Licuanan while President Duterte appointed lawyer Guiling Mamondiong as TESDA chief.

All three hold Cabinet ranks.

Valisno, who served as CHED commissioner under the Ramos and Estrada administrations and presidential assistant for education of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, said the implementation of the senior high school program highlighted the need for the education agencies to synchronize their activities.

Under the K-12 program, two additional years were added to the basic education curriculum, with DepEd introducing different tracks that students could choose to pursue in Grades 11 and 12.

Among the tracks is the technical-vocational-livelihood. Valisno noted the importance of having close coordination with TESDA to ensure that the programs offered in senior high school are aligned with those offered by DepEd.

Valisno stressed the importance of DepEd working closely with CHED as some general education subjects in college had been transferred to senior high school.

She has been supporting the remerging of the education agencies since 2012.

In her book The Nation’s Journey to Greatness, Valisno said the objective of the trifocal approach in the education system was only half-achieved, saying it resulted in the “fragmentation of efforts, programs and strategies that caused some wastage in public resources.”

“No scientific assessment was ever undertaken to assess their overall efficiency and effectiveness, individually and collectively,” she wrote.

Aside from DepEd, CHED and TESDA, Valisno said the remerging should also include other agencies that have similar functions, such as the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and the Philippine Sports Commission.

“This will streamline the bureaucracy and reduce significantly the government’s overhead on spending for various agencies that have fragmented initiatives on education,” she said.