The Department of Education (DepEd) on Wednesday, Nov. 24, said that it acknowledges the challenges in education quality of the country even before the pandemic and is currently addressing these by introducing various interventions.
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“The issue of learning poverty has been a dilemma of the country for years and the Department is proactively dealing with it for the long term,” DepEd said in a statement.
DepEd issued this statement after a new World Bank (WB) report showed that the Philippines has a 90 percent “learning poverty” which is defined as the rate of children being unable to read by the age of 10.
To address issues on basic education, DepEd said that it has already introduced various ongoing interventions even before the pandemic.
“We launched the Bawat Bata Bumabasa (3Bs) initiative nationwide, with our field offices aggressively coming up with contextualized approaches to increase reading proficiency among learners,” DepEd said.
DepEd explained that in addition to 3Bs, the Every Child a Reader Program (ECARP) also integrates strengthened initiatives on Early Language, Literacy and Numeracy Program (ELLN), Mother Tongue-Based of Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE), and Pedagogical Retooling in Mathematics, Languages, and Science (PRIMALS).
“Amidst the public health situation, we carried on to roll out our reforms in the curriculum, the learning environment, and the teacher professional development through our Sulong EduKalidad campaign,” DepEd said.
“We are also preparing for our participation in the upcoming international assessments to closely evaluate our efforts,” it added.
With the objectives of the Sulong EduKalidad campaign and Basic Education Development Plan (BEDP) 2030 set to materialize in the coming years, DepEd said that it is “leaving behind a worthy mission” to continue for the next DepEd administration.
Despite the challenges, DepEd said that the country has “come a long way” in its quest for quality education.
“But we are not yet done with our journey,” DepEd said.
“Our efforts must be consistent, cohesive, and collaborative for us to achieve in delivering quality education to every Filipino child,” it added.