Priority Areas
We are set to focus on 28 Priority Areas that will guide our work.
Early Childhood Care and Development
1 | Nutrition and feeding
Nutrition programs are separately conducted by DOH/NNC, DSWD, DepEd and other government agencies. We seek to improve the financing and effective delivery of nutrition programs to pre-empt long-term challenges in early childhood education and beyond.
2 | Supply-side factors
We want to assess the accessibility and quality of daycare centers and child development centers available for children, while ensuring equity given different resourcing capacities of local government units.
3 | Demand-side factors
The current perception of parents (98%) is that children are too early to study below the age of five years. We need to increase the uptake of ECCD programs despite this perception and emphasize the importance of education in the early years.
4 | Governance & financing of ECCD
The current composition and structure of the ECCD Council needs a review, especially weighing on its capability to deliver on its mandate as stipulated in the Early Years Act.
Basic Education
5 | Learning resources
We aim to enhance the development, production, and distribution of learning resources, reviewing challenges in procurement, planning and budgeting.
6 | Measurement of learning outcomes
Learning outcomes must be validly and reliably measured against objective standards. We will look into establishing a valid and reliable system of measurement to ensure that teachers, principals, and education agencies are able to properly monitor learning outcomes and address poor performance.
7 | Curriculum and instruction
We must ensure that the revised K to 12 curriculum is decongested and is focused on the fundamentals, especially in the primary years, and that the content is optimized for the Filipino experience.
8 | School infrastructure
We will assess the current and projected demand for school buildings, by mapping out the absorptive capacity of public and private schools, identifying areas that require further investments in capital outlay, and surveying alternate modes of delivery for last mile learners
9 | Alternative learning system
The implementation of the new Alternative Learning System (ALS) law needs to be monitored, ensuring the accessibility and responsiveness of the program.
10 | Home and school environment
We will look at best practices in forging partnerships between communities and schools, in a way that most strategically improves learner outcomes.
Higher Education
11 | Access to quality higher education
We will need to review the implementation of RA 10931, and develop horizontal and vertical typologies for higher education institutions in the country (accounting for the variety of HEIs: community colleges vs. research universities) in a way that incentivizes upgrading in quality
Quality assurance
Higher education programs must be up to par with both local and international standards, and that there are set systems to check the consistent delivery of quality higher education services. We need to review the existing mechanisms for quality assurance, done by CHED, as well as by external accrediting agencies.
12 | Efficiency of public and private higher education provision
We must formulate a framework to address the issue of complementarity for both private and public HEIs
13 | Graduate education, research and innovation
We need to understand the motivations for graduate study, raise the quality of graduate education programs, make them responsive to current industry needs, and look into constraints to high quality graduate education provision.
14 | Digital transformation and educational technologies*
HEIs need to be more digitally connected, innovative, and technologically capable, with infrastructure for digital transformation in higher education institutions.
15 | Internationalization of higher education*
We need to overcome challenges to internationalization of Philippine HEIs (among them, the coordination between CHED, BI, DOJ) and the implementation of the Transnational Higher Education (TNE) Law.
*Cuts across Priority Areas.
Teacher Education and Development
16 | Alignment of CHED, PRC, DepEd (including TEC) on teacher education and development
How do we overcome challenges in the coordination between CHED, PRC, and DepEd/TEC in the education of our teachers? At the same time, we need to review and, if necessary, amend the Teacher Professionalization Act of 1994 to align with the aims of the new TEC law.
17 | Pre-service education
We must enhance the quality of pre-service education and find ways to better attract the best students to the profession.
18 | In-service training and development
We should focus on training both teachers and school administrators to continue professional development while they are in the service. This also deals with teacher welfare.
Technical-Vocational Education and Training & Lifelong Learning
19 | Needs-based system projecting the demands in workers’ upskilling
We need to establish a system that understands and projects the middle skill needs of the country to inform strategies in TVET, enabling TESDA and TVIs to respond with agility.
20 | Industry involvement and investment in upskilling
Private companies must be encouraged to engage in Enterprise-Based Training and Apprenticeship Programs, such as by enhancing the incentives available to them, or by establishing a platform for easier investment in TVET programs for upskilling and reskilling
21 | Ensuring quality in the provision of TVET
We must strengthen TESDA’s framework for quality, nuanced across institution-, enterprise-, and community-based programs. For Technical Vocational Institutions, we must formulate incentives for them to upgrade the quality of their programs.
22 | Framework for equivalency and recognition of non-formal and informal learning
A framework for recognizing TVET and lifelong learning equivalents to formal education must be implemented.
Governance & Finance
23 | Ensuring seamless and integrated delivery of education
Education agencies must act in synergy to pursue a shared vision for the education sector. In line with this, new mechanisms and/or alternate governance structures must be put in place to ensure coherent planning and coordination between DepEd, CHED and TESDA.
24 | Complementarity between public and private education
We must formulate a clear strategy for complementarity across all levels of education (from ECCD to higher education), in a way that expands access to quality for more learners.
25 | Integrated performance management and accountability system
Current structures for accountability in the sector must be enhanced in a way that better connects agency/school performance with learner outcomes.
26 | Efficiency and equity in financing, resource mobilization, and delivery of education
How do we ensure that government use of resources (i.e. budgeting) in relation to the improvement of learning outcomes is effective? We must formulate financing strategies, policies, and instruments (e.g. GAA, SEF, loans, vouchers, grants) that could improve resourcing for education and lead to better outcomes in both the short-term and long-term.
27 | Decentralization and participatory governance
We must decentralize the governance structure in education to make the system more agile, participatory, innovative, and responsive. At the same time, it is essential that we establish mechanisms to improve participation of local government units, private industry, and other stakeholders.
Cross-Cutting
28 | Connectedness of learner pathways throughout the system
We must review the implementation of the Philippine Qualifications Framework (including related policies such as ETEEAP, RPL and PCTS), develop pathways to higher levels of TVET (Levels 6 and 7), and develop exits in CHED PSGs (currently only Level 6).