The education agenda launched by the Department of Education (DepEd) received support from an industry-led advocacy group Philippine Business for Education (PBEd).
In a statement, PBED expressed its support for the bid of the DepE bid for educational reforms to address the challenges that hound the country's education system.
“The basic education report and the ‘Matatag’ agenda is a welcome development,” said PBEd Executive Director Justine Raagas.
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2023/01/30/deped-launches-matatag-agenda-to-resolve-challenges-in-basic-education/
Before the pandemic, Raagas said that PBEd has been “calling for the need to address the learning crisis in the country which has been exacerbated by the pandemic.”
On Jan. 30, Vice President and DepEd Secretary Sara Duterte delivered the Basic Education Report (BER) 2023 which presented the current state of the Philippine basic education sector.
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2023/01/30/deped-identifies-challenges-in-basic-education-through-ber-2023/
Among the challenges highlighted in the BER 2023 was the congested curriculum which led to the ongoing review of the K to 12 program.
Aside from concerns in the curriculum, the BER 2023 also revealed that some prerequisites of identified essential learning competencies were missing or misplaced and that a significant number of learning competencies catered to high cognitive demands.
“We completely agree with this–children at their age right now are not at the cognitive level where they are supposed to be...,” Raagas said. “So, if you add more subjects and the curriculum is congested, how can they learn if they don’t have the basics?” she added.
PBEd, Raagas said, is supportive of the move to focus on foundational skills.
“Teach them numeracy and literacy at an early age, make sure that they learn in the language that they understand so that they can progress to more subjects and areas of learning as they grow older,” Raagas explained.
In the BER 2023, it was also stated that while the Senior High Program (SHS) has contributed to a high 90 percent passing rate in the national certificate assessment of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), it was pointed out that “most K to 12 graduates struggled in finding employment without a college or university education.“
Citing a PBEd study in 2018, it was noted that only one in five companies are “ready to hire K to 12 graduates.“
In a 2019 follow-up survey, the willingness of companies increased to three out of five after seeing the performance of the students “improve after a company-based training.“
PBEd stressed the importance of engaging more companies for work immersion so that SHS students have “real-world experience once they graduate.“
Moreover, Raagas noted that the country’s education system should focus on equipping learners with cognitive and noncognitive skills, which can enhance skills needed in the workplace.
Meanwhile, Raagas also underscored the importance of the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) which is a “crucial step to resolve problems” besetting the country’s education sector.
“While we are in the midst of a learning crisis we are also at the starting point of a very big educational reform,” Raagas said.
The EDCOM 2, she added, has recently convened to review not only the basic education system but the whole education system.
“So, what’s good here is that the efforts that the DepEd will take in the next six years in its agenda can also be guided by reports and recommendations that the EDCOM 2 can bring,” Raagas added.
RELATED STORY:
https://mb.com.ph/2023/01/29/experts-identify-discuss-top-issues-plaguing-the-ph-education-sector/