THE DEPARTMENT of Education, together with its partners, on Monday opened the Second National Summit on the Rights of the Child in Education.

The summit will run until November 24, 2020.

With the theme: Isulong! Karapatan ng Bawat Bata sa Edukasyon sa Panahon ng Covid19, the summit aimed to reinforce the continuing commitment of the government, including the DepEd, and other stakeholders, to uphold children’s rights.

“We aim to build on the gains of the First National Summit held last year as we push forward in shaping policies and programs to more strongly promote children’s rights in education. The summit will significantly discuss the importance of upholding rights-based education not only during normal times but also during public emergencies such as the Covid19 pandemic,” Education Undersecretary Josephine Maribojoc said.

“The Covid19 pandemic should not be an obstacle in safeguarding the rights of the children in education, such as accessing continuous quality education, remaining physically and mentally healthy, and being safe from violence and abuse in the different learning modalities,” the official said.

The summit is the highlight of the DepEd’s observance of National Children’s Month, which is celebrated in November every year.

In September, the DepEd organized a webinar series on Child Rights and Child Protection in Education to help train DepEd personnel on children’s rights in education during the Covid19 pandemic.

Another webinar series was conducted to help educate parents, guardians, and caregivers on positive discipline in education. These webinar series garnered more than one million total views online.

The speakers in the summit include Dr. Philip Jaffé who will deliver a lecture on the role of child rights in the time of the Covid19 pandemic.

Jaffé is a member of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.

The keynote message was delivered by DepEd Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones. The other speakers include Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, and Congressman Roman Romulo.