EDUCATION Secretary Leonor Briones lauded teachers who continue to deliver quality education to learners despite the challenges brought by the Covid19 pandemic.

“We have striven, struggled, we have worked to continue to address the growing demands of society and the impact of the pandemic. And nevertheless, we continue our efforts in spreading, expanding the reach of literacy among our learners and population as well,” Briones said during the recently held 2021 National Literacy Conference on Monday.

She emphasized that education is a fundamental human right irrespective of race, gender, nationality, ethnic origins, religion, or age.

“I’m sure you cannot imagine what it is like to live in the darkness, to be unable and deprived of the opportunity to know what is happening, to be shut-off, to be closed in, to be locked down in your own individual existence without knowing what is happening in the rest of the world. And this is a terrible fate which we do not want to inflict on our learner or any citizen of our country,” Briones added.

Led by expert resource persons, the virtual conference provided an avenue for sharing and documentation of practices, issues and challenges in implementing literacy programs and projects for community development.

Undersecretary for Curriculum and Instruction Diosdado San Antonio said that the department will continue to find ways to educate students.

“We want to make sure that every effort of everyone in the Philippines should be focused on making sure that the youngsters and even adult citizens are fully literate, functionally literate. Covid19 has given us big challenges but as we have shown in the formal sector and people working in other areas, we were able to demonstrate that the challenge could be surmounted if Bayanihan is at work,” San Antonio said.

“I hope our resolve is to make sure that even if there are constraints, we will not stop finding ways of ensuring that every Filipino can possess the foundational literacy skills that they need for them to survive, if not thrive, in this 21st century. We know times are challenging, but with resilience and innovation, I am truly confident that the efforts towards higher literacy rates for our country will be successful,” he added.