CHED chief proposes to consolidate education agencies

MALOLOS CITY , Philippines  - Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Secretary Emmanuel Angeles wants to consolidate the country’s education agencies under one department in order to have focus in the educational system.

He was referring to the Department of Education (DepEd), the CHED, and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda).

“They have different focus. There’s no coordination,” Angeles said in an interview at the economic briefing between China and the Philippines at the Holiday Inn Hotel in Clark Freeport last Saturday.

DepEd handles basic education while CHED is in charge of high school and college education. Tesda provides middle level manpower training.

He noted that other countries in Southeast Asia, like Thailand, have experimented with a trifocal education system but later reconsolidated the agencies under one department. Angeles also said the budget for education should be increased from 2.35 percent of the country’s gross domestic product to at least four percent.

He said this could be done if legislators will allocate 10 percent of their annual pork barrel for the development of education in their respective districts. The funds, he said, need not go through the hands of education officials.                 

“Many of them (lawmakers) provide scholarships and build schools but we have to institutionalize it,” Angeles said.

Angeles said he is preparing a proposal to president-elect Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III for the improvement of the educational system.

He is also proposing the automatic scholarship of some 520,000 college students from the poorest families.

“My idea is to have one scholar in college from every family, because if they graduate, they will help their siblings,” he said.

He also said the curriculum from elementary to college should be upgraded to prepare students for industry requirements.

Education Secretary Mona Valisno said she will present a set of urgent concerns to Aquino when he assumes his post.             

“I will be former secretary by July 1. But the team at DepEd will bridge with President Noynoy our concerns as he committed that education will be a priority in his administration,” she said.

Valisno said she will particularly support the demand of public school teachers to implement the salary increase for entry-level teachers from P16,000 to more than P20,000 per month, while master teachers should receive P33,000 per month from P26,000 per month.

In June last year, President Arroyo approved the Salary Standardization Law III (SSL3), which covers all government employees, including teachers.

 “These salary increases are already embodied in the law. We’ll be happy to make representations with the DBM (Department of Budget and Management) on this for teachers,” she said.      – With Rainier Allan Ronda