ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR III
What we already know doesn’t need to be repeated. Perhaps we must, though, if only to acknowledge our errors and make amends. We are consistently informed that something is wrong with our educational system.
Our standing in these worldwide yardsticks is persistently low, and while we can applaud ourselves for hosting several award ceremonies and producing hundreds of Latin Honor Graduates in addition to numerous high scorers, the ongoing embarrassment of our position is evident.
The link herein attached https://edcom2.gov.ph/edcom-2-releases-year-one-report/:
The Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) released findings during its first year of operation on January 23, 2024.
In its Year One Report entitled “Miseducation: The Failed System of Philippine Education”, the Commission highlighted its findings in twelve out of its twenty-eight Priority Areas, following its first year of work. This is in line with its mandate under RA 11899 to report to Congress its accomplishments, findings and recommendations on a periodic basis.
EDCOM 2 was formally convened on January 23, 2023, and has since initiated a national effort to diagnose the primary challenges leading to poor learning outcomes, together with its Advisory Council, Standing Committee members, and its Technical Secretariat.
The Commission has since conducted extensive research as well as 19 hearings and consultations, 12 focused group discussions, and 23 site visits all over the country, in its mission to “undertake a comprehensive national assessment and evaluation of the performance of the Philippine education sector”.
The report included 40 recommendations of EDCOM, including actions taken by the Commission in the past year.
In Early Childhood Care and Development, EDCOM 2 urged the government to find possible complementarities of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program and the Food Stamp Program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
To solve dilemmas in textbook procurement, the Commission also recommended that the Department of Education should look into the possibility of procuring books that are already available on the market rather than engaging publishers to develop new ones.
Under its recommendations for Higher Education, the Commission stressed the need to prioritize the poorest of the poor for the Tertiary Education Subsidy.
This is following the Commission’s findings that between 2018 and 2022, the proportion of the grantees of the subsidy that comes from DSWD’s Listahanan 2.0 and 4Ps has declined markedly, from 74% to 31%.
EDCOM 2 also found that teachers continue to bear the burden of about 50 administrative and ancillary tasks, despite efforts to allow them to focus on teaching across many administrations.
We fervently believe that progress will inevitably be made and that significant progress is achievable. Among all the negative news the industry is receiving, the EDCOM II offers a ray of hope.We have to stop bragging about how much better we are and how many honor students we have, even though, in reality, we are not much better off when compared to the world’s lowest achievers.
We hope for a better future for education and urge that, following EDCOM II’s conclusion in 2025, we continue to assist the evolving of that future.
