DepEd seeks better collaboration among education agencies

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education (DepEd) has called for better collaboration among the education agencies of the government to further improve the quality of education in the country.

Education Secretary Leonor Briones last week pushed for more active dialogues among the DepEd, Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) to identify issues and streamline programs related to improving the state of Philippine education.

“We should take the PISA agenda in greater detail and meet more often to have serious discussions on the challenges,” Briones said, referring to the Program for International Student Assessment.

PISA results released last year showed Filipino students lagging behind their counterparts from 78 other countries in reading comprehension, science and mathematics.

Among the education gaps in the country is the curriculum of college students taking up education, according to Biones, saying the DepEd must know how universities and colleges train future teachers.

“We should strengthen the link between the pre-service and the in-service of the teachers,” she said.

The secretary cited the educational system of Singapore, where the Ministry of Education is the sole institution implementing teacher-training curriculum in pre-service and in-service.

The Philippines has a trifocal education system, where the DepEd is in charge of basic education, while CHED is responsible for higher education, including teacher education.

Meanwhile, TESDA administers post-secondary, middle-level manpower training and development programs.

Briones said the DepEd is moving for continuous upskilling and reskilling of teachers through the National Educators Academy of the Philippines.