Marcos OKs Cabinet cluster of education agencies

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has approved the creation of a Cabinet cluster of education agencies that aim to align reforms with a coherent strategy from kindergarten to college.

The Cabinet cluster, composed of the Department of Education (DepEd), the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), will be tasked with crafting a 10-year plan on education and workforce development that will set shared goals among the three agencies.

This roadmap is meant to "anchor" DepEd, CHED and TESDA's programs to "make sure that there is one coherent direction" amid the learning crisis in the Philippines.

The proposal to create a Cabinet cluster came from the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2), a three-year body tasked with reviewing the country's education system.

Karol Mark Yee, EDCOM 2 executive director, said the long-term roadmap will ensure agency's targets and budgets are aligned and that reforms will be coherent at every stage of education.

"Kasi ‘pag hindi natin ginawa ito, 10 years yung laban natin eh. Because ‘yung mga batang pumapasok ng Kinder ngayon, kailan pa sila magge-Grade 3? Four years from now. Kailan sila magha-high school? Kailan sila magka- college?" Yee said during a press conference on Tuesday.

(Because if we don't do this, our struggle will last 10 years. The kids entering kindergarten now—when will they reach Grade 3? Four years from now. When will they enter high school? When will they get to college?)

"Kailangan tuloy-tuloy ‘yung reforms. Because if it is interrupted, bagsak na naman tayo," he added.

(The reforms need to be continuous. Because if they are interrupted, we'll fall behind again.)

DepEd Secretary Sonny Angara said one of the issues that the Cabinet cluster will address is the quality of teachers produced at the tertiary level.

Currently, an estimated 50% of high school teachers who teach science did not graduate from a program related to the subject, Yee said.

While it is CHED's responsibility to supervise  teacher education institutions, "90-plus percent of graduates go to DepEd," Angara added.
 
"So ngayon, at least, ‘yung mga issue na tagpi-tagpi sa mga ahensya, mapag-uusapan nitong Cluster," the DepEd secretary said.

(So now, at least, the issues that are fragmented across different agencies can be discussed within this Cluster.)

Besides unifying the different education agencies, Marcos has also ordered the rationalization of the 68 inter-agency bodies and councils that DepEd, CHED and TESDA are a part of.

"Imagine mo 68 iba-ibang councils, iba-ibang groups na kailangan nilang attendan ng meetings every time na on top of their regular jobs," Yee said.

(Imagine having 68 different councils and groups that they need to attend meetings for on top of their regular jobs.)

EDCOM 2 earlier found that these 68 interagency bodies are either overly broad or specific in their scope and often hold sporadic meetings that keep policies from being effectively implemented.