By Liza Soriano
MANILA — Senator Win Gatchalian announced on Monday (Jan. 6, 2024) that the approved 2025 national budget includes his proposal to allocate P80 million in scholarships for child development workers (CDWs).
“With the funding we’ve allocated for scholarships, we can support the upskilling and reskilling of our CDWs. This is a crucial step in ensuring they are effective in carrying out their duties,” Gatchalian said.
A special provision proposed by Gatchalian earmarks the P80 million under the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority’s (TESDA) program for promoting quality technical education and skills development.
The scholarship program will prioritize CDWs whose highest educational attainment is a high school diploma or lower.
To implement the program, TESDA will collaborate with the Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) Council to develop the necessary guidelines.
Of the 68,080 CDWs nationwide, only 11,414 have completed secondary education.
Gatchalian’s proposal is in line with the Early Childhood Care and Development Alignment Act (Senate Bill No. 2575), which he authored and sponsored.
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