Education Secretary Leonor Briones on Friday, Dec. 3, expressed gratitude to stakeholders, particularly to teachers, for their efforts which helped the Department of Education (DepEd) become the “most trusted national government agency” based on the 2021 Philippine Trust Index (PTI) survey.
DepEd received a 91 percent trust rating in this year’s (PTI) survey titled “RISE & RESPOND: Trust Rewards the Agile and the Future-Ready.”
Recognizing the gravity of public trust, DepEd lauded its stakeholders for taking part in ensuring that education will continue for Filipino children.
“This trust that the public has given us is a heavy load to carry,” Briones said. “We must uphold our ideals in everything we do,” she added.
Briones recognized the stakeholders’ support in the distance learning modality initiatives and other accompanying projects aimed to strengthen, upgrade, and maintain the education quality.
She also expressed gratitude to education frontliners who stood with the DepEd in continuously providing learning opportunities to all learners.
“I’m glad to say that our teachers help lighten that load for they have always worked beyond their line of duties and supported the Department in bringing education to our learners,” Briones said.
The 2021 PTI measures the Filipinos’ trust levels in the government, business sector, media, non-governmental organizations, the Church, and the academe amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
“It is an honor to be, once again, the most trusted national government agency, but along with this are the responsibilities and duties we must continue to do to serve our learners,” Briones said.
DepEd managed to keep the same top spot for national government agencies since the last PTI survey in 2019 due to its continued engagement with the public even during the pandemic through different initiatives to aid education.
“We are very grateful for your trust and we hope that trust will continue in our future endeavors in the education sector,” she added.
Based on the survey, the top driver for the trust in government agencies is the ability to help address the poor in their basic needs such as housing, food, and education. DepEd said that it remained “engaged with the public in times of the pandemic by launching different initiatives to aid education.”
In the past two years, DepEd said it has remained “steadfast in providing the means to education in times of crises” by tapping communities and partners and implementing the Basic Education – Learning Continuity Program (BE-LCP).
Conducted by the EON Group, the PTI survey has been conducted biannually for the past decade.
For this year, the survey was conducted from August to September with 800 respondents from randomly selected households across the country.
The respondents are from both rural and urban areas and come from the general and informed public.