President Marcos has approved the funding request for the establishment of child development centers (CDCs) in 4th and 5th class municipalities that lack resources to put up basic education development hubs.
Malacañang said Marcos made the approval after early childhood development proponents asked the President to allocate P700 million this year to provide low-income barangays access to early childhood development initiatives.
“Gawin na natin ito (Let's do this). I am thinking the daycare centers can also be CDCs. Ganoon na rin yun, e. You have the same kind of training for the people. The kids are there,” Marcos said during the sectoral meeting in Malacañang with The Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) and other agencies on Tuesday, March 4.
“We’ve been talking about economic development, we’ve been talking about inflation, agriculture, et cetera. It’s time to shift focus to education. That’s our only hope for the future,” he added.
With the President's approval, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) committed to fund the establishment of CDCs for this year.
The P700 million, which will be coursed through the Local Government Support Fund (LGSF), will finance the development of CDCs for every municipality, Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara said during the meeting.
Angara said establishing CDCs is a low-hanging fruit in terms of expense and also a much-needed investment in the country’s education sector. Early childhood has been an aspiration of the country since 1978, but, according to data in EDCOM 2’s Year Two Report, 5,800 barangays still do not have CDCs despite a 1990 law requiring each barangay to have at least one. Some 229 of them belong to low-income LGUs.
The DepEd chief stressed that investing in Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) is a critical step towards improving educational outcomes as it not only reduces dropout rates and boosts completion, but also increases the likelihood of achieving literacy among young learners.
The Early Years Act of 2013 requires LGUs to fund the creation of CDCs. But the challenge is that 4th and 5th class municipalities do not have resources for such centers.
During the sectoral meeting, it was also noted that EDCOM 2 will work with the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), and the ECCD Council to increase the number of early childhood education graduates in regions identified to be lacking.
“By fixing the foundations - nutrition, early childhood education, literacy and numeracy by Grade 3 - we will ensure that our reforms are strategic, targeted, and enduring”, EDCOM 2 Executive Director Dr. Karol Mark Yee said.
Recently, the consolidated versions of House Bill No. 10142 and Senate Bill 2575 or the Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) Act was approved by the bicameral conference committee.
The ratified bill introduces comprehensive measures to upgrade the quality of early childhood education. It proposes improvements in health, nutrition, and social service programs for children from birth to four years old.