"We have an education crisis."

This is what human rights lawyer Chel Diokno said as he expressed his intention to push for reforms that will help provide education justice for students and teachers alike if he wins in the Senate race.

Diokno made the statement as he campaigns to be part of the magic circle of 12 winning candidates during the May national elections.

In a statement, Diokno said the country has an education crisis because Filipino students rank among the lowest in the world in reading, mathematics, and science, and historical inaccuracies hinder the understanding and appreciation of Philippine history.

He added that the Philippines is way below world standards in expenditure per student-- a measure of the public investment that a country devotes annually to each student’s education.

Diokno, the founding dean of the De La Salle University College of Law, said that the crisis has been exacerbated by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which has resulted in some 2.7 million students dropping out of school, while many students have had difficulty learning from hastily written modules.

"If I win a seat in the Senate, I will push for reforms that will help provide education justice for our students and our teachers," he said.

According to Diokno, access to quality education is his principal concern, especially in light of the impact of the pandemic on learning.

To achieve this, he said he will work to raise the education budget to at least four percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and ensure that the money is spent on proper and necessary priorities. These priorities, among others, would include:

• The upgrading of the salary grade levels of public school teachers
• The provision of well-reviewed textbooks per child in all subjects
• The full implementation of the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers and other laws on overtime pay
• The provision of ample instructional supplies and equipment for teachers
• The expansion of the school-based and community-based feeding programs for zero- to five-year-old children and for all levels of basic education especially in low-income municipalities where nutrition is a grave concern

The senatorial aspirant said he will likewise propose the creation of a Deputy Ombudsman for Social Services that will include education in order to eradicate corruption, waste, and political influence in the allocation and disbursement of education resources.

In addition, he cited the need to broaden existing laws that provide scholarships and incentives to those who want to become teachers and establish a mechanism for the continuous training of teachers so they keep up with technological and other developments.

"Human rights and voter education will be more tightly integrated into the curriculum and historical inaccuracies will be corrected in the textbooks," he said.

Diokno said he will also push for the construction of resilient schools and support facilities, including dormitories in far-flung areas where students can stay instead of having to travel long distances to get to school and back.

He added that establishing community learning hubs in every barangay that will provide safe learning facilities and equipment for distance learning is a must as this could help improve the country’s quality of our education.