Education Secretary Leonor Briones commended teachers who continue to ensure that education will continue despite the challenges that they too have to overcome.
“We have striven, struggled, we have worked to continue to address the growing demands of society and the impact of the pandemic,” Briones said.
“And nevertheless, we continue our efforts in spreading, expanding the reach of literacy among our learners and population as well,” she added.
In particular, Briones thanked the Filipino educators for expanding literacy reach in line with DepEd’s mission to deliver quality basic education to every Filipino child.
During the 2021 National Literacy Conference (NLC) held recently, Briones also emphasized to the participants that education is a fundamental human right irrespective of race, gender, nationality, ethnic origins, religion, or age.
“I’m sure you cannot imagine what it is like to live in the darkness, to be unable and deprived of the opportunity to know what is happening, to be shut-off, to be closed in, to be lockdown in your own individual existence without knowing what is happening in the rest of the world,” Briones said.
“And this is a terrible fate which we do not want to inflict on our learner or any citizen of our country,” she added.
With the theme, “Literacy Learning Innovations in the New Normal Towards Sustainable Development,” the 2021 NLC provided an avenue for sharing and documentation of practices, issues, and challenges in implementing literacy programs and projects for community development.
Due to the ongoing public health situation brought by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, a virtual conference was conducted led by expert resource persons.
Meanwhile, Undersecretary for Curriculum and Instruction Diosdado San Antonio said also recognized the vital role of teachers especially during these challenging times.
“COVID-19 has given us big challenges but as we have shown in the formal sector and people working in other areas, we were able to demonstrate that the challenge could be surmounted if Bayanihan is at work,” San Antonio said.
San Antonio said that together with its partners, DepEd continues to “make sure that every effort of everyone in the Philippines should be focused on making sure that the youngsters and even adult citizens are fully literate, functionally literate.”
Spearheaded by the Literacy Coordinating Council (LCC), the 2021 NLC is in conjunction with the celebration of the National Literacy Week as stipulated in Presidential Proclamation No. 239, s. 1993, “Declaring the Period from September 2-8 of every year as Literacy Week and in DepEd Memorandum No. 72, s. 2019 on the “Annual Celebration of the National Literacy Week.”
“I hope our resolve is to make sure that even if there are constraints, we will not stop finding ways of ensuring that every Filipino can possess the foundational literacy skills that they need for them to survive, if not thrive, in this 21st century,” San Antonio said in closing.
“We know times are challenging, but with resilience and innovation, I am truly confident that the efforts towards higher literacy rates for our country will be successful,” he ended.