Senate to revive congressional committee on education

MANILA, Philippines — The Senate is moving to revive the joint congressional committee on education (EDCom) following the country’s embarrassing performance in reading, math and science literacy.

Senators Sonny Angara, Sherwin Gatchalian, Grace Poe, Joel Villanueva and Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon filed Senate Joint Resolution 10 to revive the EDCom to aid the executive branch in efforts to improve the state of education in the country.

The body will be tasked to review, assess and evaluate the formal, non-formal, informal and alternative learning systems, including continuing systems of education at all levels.

“A lot has been done to improve the country’s educational system over the years but it has become apparent that we need to do more to put us at par with the rest of the world,” Angara said.

He said the results of the 2018 round of the Program for International Student Assessment or PISA, which saw the Philippines at the bottom or second to the last in the list of 79 countries on reading literacy, mathematics and science literacy, were “a wakeup call, not only for the DepEd (Department of Education) but to Congress as well.”

“We need to act right away,” the senator added.

It was back in 1990, during the presidency of Corazon Aquino, that the first EDCom was created through Joint Resolution No. 2 passed by Congress.

Headed by Angara’s father, the late Senate president Edgardo Angara, the congressional body came out with a report entitled “Making education work: An agenda for reform” that paved the way for the implementation of education reforms in the country.