A LAWMAKER and Second Congressional Commission on Education or EDCOM 2 co-chairperson on Thursday stressed the need to analyze the different education systems in every regions in the country in order to improve the overall system.

“Our national education system needs massive reforms. We cannot do business as usual. That is the reason why we are also looking at the entire system, including the system in our lone autonomous region in the Philippines,” Senator Win Gatchalian said.

“We recognize that the BARMM operates under the subsystem in education. However, we also recognize that in order for the entire Philippine education to improve, all regions including subsystems, and all provinces including different systems should be looked at and analyzed,” he added.

“Ang pag unlad ng isang bansa, hindi magiging kumpleto kung mayroon tayong isang rehiyon, isang probinsya, isang LGU, na maiiwanan,” the senator further said.

To fulfill its mandate to study, analyze, and make recommendations to the national government on necessary reforms to improve the education system, the EDCOM 2 conducted its first visit to the Bangsamoro for a comprehensive education consultation.

During the dialogue, EDCOM 2 aligned with BARMM and its Ministry of Basic, Higher, and Technical Education on its priorities in education, with the aim of delivering a balanced, inclusive, and quality education that will reflect the history and aspirations of the Bangsamoro, and contextualize its priorities in support of strengthening BARMM’s sub-education system.

This direction of EDCOM 2 also aligns with RA 11054 or the Organic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, to give communities stronger autonomy in building their sub-education system within the national system.

Since its establishment, the Commission has been conducting consultations in different areas of the country.

“We look forward to working closely with BARMM to better understand the education challenges faced by the Bangsamoro, and to jointly strategize on how it could be addressed. We also look forward to learning from their best practices, for example, in reducing stunting in such a short period of time,” said EDCOM 2 Executive Director Karol Mark Yee.