EDUCATION Secretary Leonor Briones joined other ministers of Education from the Asia-Pacific region in a policy dialogue to discuss a myriad of concerns and issues relating to education.

The roundtable, with the theme “Transforming Education and its Systems,” was held during the 2nd Asia-Pacific Regional Education Minister’s Conference in Thailand.

Education officials in the region discussed the transformation of the education system to make it more equitable, flexible and resilient to future shocks and to improve learning and its relevance for society.

“There is a need to take a look at the organizational structure of each Ministry of Education, as the structure influences decision making. We have to move to further decentralize and empower the regional and field units,” Briones said.

The DepEd chief also raised the need for curriculum reforms as well as structural changes to address the challenges in education.

“We also need to address the issue on accountability, as education ministries tend to have bigger budgets compared to other ministries. The Ministries of Education should have an effective communication system with their audiences: education stakeholders and other government units who are part of the bureaucracy,” Briones said.

The conference was attended by the 46 education ministries from the regional member states of UNESCO, as well as education stakeholders and multilateral organizations across the globe.

The APREMC II also featured sessions on learning recovery and improving learning outcome for all, teachers, early childhood care and education, adolescents learning and skills development and higher education and adult learning.