PCCI to Angara: Prioritize student proficiency in ICT

MANILA, Philippines —  Information and communications technology (ICT) development and proficiency in students should be a priority agenda, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) urged newly appointed Education Secretary Sonny Angara amid continuing advances in digital technology.

“As we prepare our students to be future members and leaders of our workforce, we hope that our government could prioritize honing their skills and equipping them with the right information and tools to cope with the ever-changing digital landscape,” PCCI president Enunina Mangio said.

Citing the 2023 Coursera’s Global Skills Report, which showed the Philippines placing 99th out of 100 countries in terms of technology, business and data science skills, the PCCI underscored the importance of technical knowledge and skills.

“I believe this is something that we should seriously assess and address to better improve our ranking,” Mangio said.

She said the country’s competitiveness in the areas covered by the report has been deteriorating.

Legislative measures authored by Angara in the Senate include the Digital Workforce Competitiveness Act, National Digital Transformation Act, Local ICT Officers Act and the Science and Technology Parks Incentives Act.

Marcos Jr. to Angara: Teach kids Philippine history

Meanwhile, President Marcos has asked Angara to improve the knowledge of Filipino children on Philippine history.

“The one thing I asked of him was to please teach our children Philippine history. Because I have seen my children’s workbooks and there’s very little said about the history of the Philippines,” Marcos said.

“And for me that is so important for the simple reason that that is what [explains] why we are like this, why we have this character, was because of our history,” he said.

Marcos also instructed the incoming DepEd chief to help teachers become financially secure as he noted that they are the key to any successful program in the DepEd.

“We have to, of course, financial(ly) make sure that they can feed their families. Because we tend to forget sometimes that teachers have families,” the President said.

The Chief Executive also ordered the retraining of teachers so they can adapt to recent developments and technological advancements.

Asked if there will be a policy shift in the department under Angara, Marcos said “maybe a little bit.”

He said the government would likewise beef up feeding programs in schools to address the stunting problem in the country.

Marcos said he also asked Angara to continue working closely with the private sector in increasing the employability of K-12 graduates.

He said the 12-year basic education was implemented to make the graduates employable.

“But if we look at the results, it’s (employability) not rising, it’s not improving. So we have to do something else,” the President said.

He said the government is looking into offering short specialized courses that could last for three months to one year.

He said he also tackled with the next DepEd chief ways to improve the Filipino students’ rankings in student assessments.

“The second part we are looking at are the results in the international objective test. Especially in the STEM subjects because that’s where we are falling behind and that is the area that is most in demand right now because we are getting more and more technical,” Marcos said.

Apart from improving the students’ performance in science and mathematics, Marcos also directed Angara to focus on enhancing their reading comprehension.

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian expressed confidence that Angara would be able to make the necessary fiscal reforms in the education sector because of his experience in the Senate finance committee and the Second Congressional Commission on Education.

The senator is confident Angara would analyze the department’s proposed 2025 budget and ensure that it would address the concerns of teachers and students.

The senator also asked Angara to look into the leakage in the private school education subsidy program, which allegedly went to “ghost students,” the subject of a previous Senate investigation.

“The DepEd has promised to change the guidelines of the program so that it only benefits the poor but deserving students. I am requesting Secretary Angara to look into the problems of the voucher system so that public funds will not be wasted,” Gatchalian said.

Suspend PBB policy

Teachers group Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC) has formally asked DepEd to relax or totally suspend its policy on the Performance-Based Bonus (PBB) of teachers and school personnel for the recently concluded school year 2023-2024.

The TDC said the Office/Individual Performance Commitment and Review Form serves as DepEd’s primary basis in its implementation of Results-Based Performance Management System (RBPMS) and PBB for teachers and education personnel.

Just last month, President Marcos issued Executive Order 61 suspending the implementation of RBPMS and Performance-Based Incentive System (PBIS), which includes Productivity Enhancement Incentive and PBB, in all government offices.

Marcos, in his EO, said the RBPMS and PBIS must be harmonized with the ease of doing business initiatives and other international standards to avoid duplication and redundancy.

“Suspending the RBPMS in DepEd aligns with the intent of Executive Order No. 61, which suspends the RBPMS and the PBIS in the government service,” the TDC said in its letter. – Helen Flores, Marc Jayson Cayabyab, Elizabeth Marcelo