SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian on Friday vowed to continue to push for the safe reopening of schools and help the education sector recover from the pandemic.

The reelectionist senator said that his legislative agenda will focus on improving the quality of education and the country’s public schools where about 90 percent of learners are enrolled.

The World Bank estimates that learning poverty, or the percentage of 10-year-old children who cannot read or understand a simple story, is at 90 percent in the Philippines which will likely worsen because of prolonged school closures.

“Hindi pa tapos ang ating trabaho. Kaya ang aking adbokasiya: isulong natin ang kapakanan at karapatan ng bawat mag-aaral tungo sa isang dekalidad na edukasyon,” Gatchalian said.

As chairman of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture, he sponsored Senate Bill 2485 or the Second Congressional Commission on Education Act, which the Senate recently approved on third reading.

The proposed EDCOM II will undertake a comprehensive national assessment and evaluation of the performance of the Philippine education sector to recommend transformative, concrete, and targeted education reforms.

Gatchalian is also the author and sponsor of the Excellence in Teacher Education Act, which seeks to improve the quality of teacher education and training in the country.

To address the needs of learners with disabilities, Gatchalian sponsored the proposed Instituting a Policy of Inclusion and Services for Learners with Disabilities in Support of Inclusive Education Act.