MANILA, Philippines — There is no need to declare a crisis in education in the Philippines despite a “learning crisis” reported by a UN body, as President Marcos has already “taken the bull by the horns,” Education Secretary Sonny Angara said.
“Last year, you saw him (Marcos) exert his leadership in the educational field, and he has this ‘conversion strategy,’ asking even non-educational agencies to help in the fight against the learning crisis,” Angara said yesterday in an interview over ANC.
Angara is marking his first year as DepEd chief on July 19.
The DepEd has launched various projects in cooperation with the Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Health, Department of Transportation (DOTr), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Philippine National Police (PNP).
The DepEd partnered with the DA and the DOH for the “Gulayan sa Paaralan” project to improve the feeding program for students and with the DOTr for the granting of 50 percent discounts to students in railways and the establishment of dedicated student lanes.
The DepEd also partnered with the DSWD for the improvement of early child care and education at daycare centers, as well as with the DILG and the PNP for the provision of security.
The Department of Information and Communications Technology was also instructed by the Office of the President to work for 100 percent connectivity for all public schools by the end of the year.
“The President is looking at the problem holistically. It is a multidimensional problem and to solve it, you have to attack it on many fronts,” Angara added.
In a report last month, the United Nations Children’s Fund warned of a “real and widespread learning crisis” in the Philippines, as recent findings revealed that a vast majority of students are falling significantly behind in reading and mathematics.
Angara said the DepEd has been “old fashioned” in assessing a child. “I think we got a little bit left behind there, so we are looking to modernize or sync them or make them more similar to the large scale educational assessment” similar to the Program for International Student Assessment and the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study.
He hopes the implementation of a new curriculum would help the country score better in the international assessment.
On proposals to remove or rationalize the K-12 program, the DepEd chief said he is leaving it up to Congress to make a decision.
“It really is a decision that Congress would have to make, if they wish to revert to the 10-year education. But if we do, we would be one of the few countries in the world that have it and I think there is enough documentation and evidence that says if we revert to a 10-year education cycle, this might prejudice our workers, especially when they go abroad, they might be discriminated against, a lower salary which in the case of our engineers and architects, they were not given salaries commensurate to their counterparts,” he said.
“Personally, I am in favor of continuing it because I think there is more hope, we would have a bigger chance. The President gave instructions to change the curriculum and improve the implementation,” he said.
The DepEd has selected 889 pilot schools for a strengthened Senior High School to help students reach their full potential and “not to straitjacket them.”
During this period, the student can take a class which is technical-vocation in nature and pair it with classes that could either be in the science and technology strand or in the business strand.