By Dang Samson Garcia

EDCOM 2 Commissioner Representative Francisco Benitez proposed the alignment of early childhood education and basic education to coordinate the expectations from the Department of Education and childhood care and development centers.

The lawmaker cited the proposal to include the Department of the Interior and Local Government in the composition of the Education Council.

“There are provisions in there to ensure that the DILG is the vice-chair of the Council”, he said.

In the current structure of the Council, the roles of government agencies were divided based on the age of the children being served.

The ECCD Council, Department of Health and Department of Social Welfare’s and Development are responsible for children aged 0-4 years old, while DepEd is responsible for those aged 5-8 years old.

However, EDCOM 2 observed that this interagency collaboration makes accountability difficult.

Benitez also stressed the need to provide child development workers permanent positions.

“We insist on plantilla positions for child development workers and teachers within the barangay and to provide them with a certain amount of security of tenure,” he said.

By Dang Samson Garcia

THE Second Congressional Commission on Education has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the US Agency for International Development on the delivery of quality education.

USAID Mission Director Washburn signed the MOU with EDCOM II Co-Chairpersons Senator Sherwin Gatchalian and Pasig City Representative Roman Romulo.

“The Memorandum of Understanding underscores the mutual commitment of our two countries to work together to shape the future of Philippine education in order to make it a key driver of prosperity for all Filipinos,” USAID Philippines Mission Director Ryan Washburn said.

Gatchalian, meanwhile, said that reforming the Philippine education sector requires the inputs and expertise of advocates and partners.

“We are grateful to the USAID for steadfastly supporting education programs in the country, and we look forward to their contributions in reviewing and reforming the state of education in the country,” he said.

“This MOU demonstrates the depth of our countries’ friendship with one another. Access to quality education will unleash the full potential of Filipinos. Thank you to the USAID for its support to enhancing our Philippine education system,” Romulo said.

In the past decade, the US government, through USAID, has invested nearly $200 million to strengthen the capacity of Philippine education partners to drive inclusive and sustainable growth.

MANILA — The Second Congressional Commission on Education explored the possibility of restructuring the Early Childhood Care and Development Council (ECCD Council) in a meeting between the two organizations on Thursday, June 22, 2023.

The meeting was attended by EDCOM 2 Co-Chairpersons Senator Sherwin Gatchalian and Rep. Roman Romulo and Commissioner Senator Pia Cayetano, as well as Executive Director Teresita G. Inciong of the ECCD Council, with other officials. Also present were EDCOM 2 Advisory Council members Ms. Olie Lucas and Mayor Lani Cayetano, as well as Standing Committee members Ms. Amabelle Cariño and Ms. Rina Lopez Bautista.

Structural issues

The Commissioners pointed out that there is a great need to restructure the ECCD Council, asking whether it should remain an attached agency with the Department of Education.

The Early Years Act, enacted in 2013, mandated the Secretary of the Department of Education to become the Chairperson of the ECCD Council, with the Council Executive Director as the Vice-Chairperson. The roles were divided among the agencies based on the age of the children. The ECCD Council, DOH, and DSWD are responsible for children aged 0-4 years old, while DepEd is responsible for those aged 5-8 years old.

The EDCOM 2 Green Paper on Governance and Financing of ECCD notes that “this interagency collaboration makes accountability difficult”.

“After ten years, it’s really about time to reflect and suggest what we need to change in the law and in the governance structure”, said Sen. Gatchalian who filed the Basic Education and Early Childhood Education Alignment Act (Senate Bill No. 2029).

Aside from aligning the K to 12 basic education curriculum to the ECCD curriculum, Sen. Gatchalian’s proposed measure seeks to mandate greater responsibilities on local government units (LGUs) in the implementation of ECCD programs .

“I think if we don’t change the law, the structure, the governance, we will never achieve [all of the objectives of ECCD Council]. Because all of these are in the hands of the local government units LGUs. Pagbili ng materials, LGUs; producing high quality workers and teachers, LGUs din; the development of Child Development Centers, LGUs din. I think the first order of business is how do we mobilize the LGUs to do all of these things? Kasi if not, mahirap talaga. We’ll be talking about this over and over again, paikot-ikot lang tayo”.

“Ang feeling po ba ninyo ay you will be more effective kung wala po kayo sa pamilya ng DepEd, so you can properly function and carry out your responsibilities? Do you feel na fit kayo under DepEd?”, asked Congressman Roman.

“We are supposed to link with the Department of Education, but it appears that we should not be under the Department of Education so we can move freely”, Executive Director Inciong answered.

Nutrition also a big concern

Nutrition for children aged 0-4 was also a topic of discussion during the meeting.

According to UNICEF data, one in every three Filipino children under five years is chronically malnourished. Chronic malnutrition leads to stunting, where a child fails to grow and develop to full potential and has long-term effects: poor cognition and learning performance.

Commissioner Pia Cayetano pointed out that the DSWD gives a budget of P15 per meal to LGUs. “I noticed that the budget per meal of our day care children is P15 per day…’yung P15 po ba per meal, makakagawa po ba tayo ng nutritious food at P15?”, the Senator asked Advisory Council member Ms. Olie Lucas.

“We have to take a look at supplementation, like Mingo (a meal supplement manufactured by the Negros Volunteers Foundation)”, Ms. Lucas responded. “These will bring the price down”.

“I wonder, how reasonable is it to expect LGUs to encourage self-sustaining (methods), rather than feeding?”, Ms. Rina Lopez proposed.

“For the City of Taguig, we already started our massive urban farming campaign and we really tapped parents to actively participate, so whatever harvests we get, we give to our daycare centers”, Mayor Lani Cayetano narrated. (ai/mtvn)