DepEd pushes for renewed commitment to prioritize education investment
Believing that education investment is a mobilizer of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) recovery efforts and the futures of education, the Department of Education (DepEd) called for the renewal of commitment to prioritize education during an international meeting.

“We should adhere to the principle of shared responsibility to increase our education financing,” said Education Secretary Leonor Briones during the recent the Global Education Meeting 2021 (2021 GEM).
“I believe that investing in our schools, especially our teachers, is one of the vital forces behind global education recovery and a catalyst to education transformation,” she added.
Co-hosted by UNESCO and the Government of Paris, the high-level segment aims to create a global political momentum to raise the profile of education and its investment imperative, and adopt the “Paris Declaration” to renew national and international leaders’ commitment to education investment and accelerate progress towards UN Sustainable Development Goal 4 (Quality Education).
During the Ministerial Segment of 2021 GEM in July this year, Briones also highlighted the significance of financing in improving regional and international benchmarks for SDG 2030 indicators.
Meanwhile, international expert on Tax Policy and Public Expenditure Management Kim Jacinto Henares supported the Education Minister’s goal in education financing.
“The real viable way to finance education is through domestic revenue mobilization,” she said. “This is by having a tax system that is simple, fair, transparent, and has good tax administration,” she added.
Based on the latest GEM report, DepEd noted that addressing the gaps in education financing requires policy actions in three key areas: financing, efficiency, and equity.
Meanwhile, UNESCO Assistant Director-General Stefania Giannini welcomed the inauguration of the SDG4-Education 2030 High-Level Steering Committee (HLSC) as a symbol of the global education community’s renewed commitment to quality education and lifelong learning for all, as reaffirmed during the 2020 GEM.
UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay also stressed that building reinforced global cooperation for the transformation of education towards the full realization of SDG 4 requires prioritization on education investment.
“We have two powerful tools,” Azoulay said.
“First, a renewed and strengthened steering committee and the leadership of UNESCO, and second, a new roadmap for better investment in education, but we need your firm commitment to this joint undertaking because only together we can meet the promises we made for the generations to come,” she added.