During the cabinet sectoral meeting held earlier today, August 13, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. approved in principle the creation of a cabinet cluster for education aimed at providing strong oversight on all education agencies, recognizing the urgent need to address the learning crisis that the country is currently facing.
“Sa bandang dulo ng meeting, sInabi na niya [President Marcos] na in principle he approves of it, and he’d like us to fastrack some of the actions dahil nakikita niya yung urgency and it is a very deep-seated problem,” says Department of Education Secretary Sonny Angara, also a previous Commissioner of the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2).
Last June, EDCOM 2 submitted a letter to the Office of the President urging the President to create a cabinet cluster for education. This was subsequently followed by the filing of concurrent resolutions House Resolution No. 28 and Senate Resolution No. 21 filed by EDCOm 2 Commissioners Representatives Romulo, Go, Benitez, Dimaporo, Garia; and Senators Gatchalian, Cayetano, Pimentel III, and Villanueva, respectively.
In a Malacañang press briefing, Secretary Angara and EDCOM 2 Executive Director Karol Mark Yee underscored the need for greater coordination among the Department of Education (DepEd), Commission on Higher Education (CHED), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), and other agencies to better align educational policies and address long-standing challenges in education, from early childhood care and development, basic education, higher education, technical and vocational and lifelong learning.
“The learning crisis is not something that DepEd could address on its own. Kailangan tulungan talaga yung agencies. And it is really the National Education and Workforce Development Plan that will anchor them all to make sure that there is one coherent direction. And that is what we proposed to the president,” says Executive Director Yee.
PBBM further directed the education agencies to develop a 10-year coherent and integrated national education and workforce development strategy to ensure that education issues are tackled as a whole rather than in silos. This will allow education agencies to align their targets and budget, and set up monitoring and evaluation mechanisms across the education sector.
“I thank President Marcos for heeding the EDCOM’s recommendation to create a cabinet cluster on education. This will strengthen the coordination between our government agencies to ensure that we are headed in the same direction in addressing pressing issues, especially the perennial crisis hounding our education sector,” EDCOM 2 Co-Chairperson Senator Win Gatchalian said.
For his part, EDCOM 2 Co-Chairperson Rep. Roman Romulo likewise extends his gratitude to the President, “This initiative is not merely a matter of governance; it is about ensuring that every agency involved in education works in coordination, follows a clear policy direction, and understands the critical urgency of the tasks at hand. By doing so, we will optimize the use of resources, eliminate redundancy, and ensure that every effort contributes to the greater goal of providing quality education for all.”
The creation of the cabinet cluster has been supported by various stakeholders including national government agencies and private education institutions who have expressed optimism that the new governance structure will help streamline policies and improve inter-agency coordination.
