LAWMAKERS belonging to House of the Representatives and commissioners of the Second Congressional Commission on Education or EDCOM 2 filed a resolution urging President Ferdinand Marcos Jr to create a cabinet cluster for education.

EDCOM 2 Commissioners Rep. Roman Romulo, Rep. Mark Go, Rep. Jose Francisco Benitez, Rep Khalid Dimaporo and Rep Pablo John Garcia filed House Concurrent Resolution No. 28 echoing the need to provide a strong oversight on all education agencies under the Executive Department to ensure the cohesive and coherent implementation of laws, policies, reforms, and regulations and formulation of a long-term integrated national education and workforce development plan.

“It has been three decades since the trifocalization of our education system. And the comprehensive national assessment of the performance of our education sector that we are doing in EDCOM 2 highlighted critical areas of coordination that still need to be done. And as lawmakers, we owe it to all Filipino learners to provide them with quality education and a learning environment that enables and empowers them to be productive individuals,” Romulo said.

It can be recalled that the trifocalization of the education system allowed the Department of Education, the Commission on Higher Education, and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority to focus on the sub-sectors they represent, however, attempts to institutionalize an oversight body to ensure the coordinated implementation of a cohesive education strategy through the National Coordinating Council for Education were unsuccessful.

“Findings of our Year One report show that In the absence of a coordinating body, at least 68 interagency bodies involving the education agencies have been established as coordination mechanisms tackling a broad range of concerns on education. This is already very inefficient, and the lack of a coordinating mechanism further aggravates the problem,” EDCOM 2 Executive Director Karol Yee explained.

“On behalf of my fellow education champions and EDCOM 2 commissioners, Rep Mark Go, Cong Kiko Benitez, Rep Khalid Dimaporo, and Rep Pablo Garcia, we urge the President to create a Cabinet Cluster for Education that can help urgently address the learning crisis in our country, alongside the many other education reforms that we need to implement now,” Romulo added.

The Commission has also previously sent a letter dated June 27 to President Marcos, urging him to create a Cabinet Cluster for Education.