THE SECOND Congressional Commission on Education is pushing for an NC III certification program in Early Childhood Education under the 2025 budget of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.

This aimed at upskilling Child Development Workers, formerly known as daycare workers.

The proposal will target 25 percent or 2,854, of the 11,414 CDWs with only high school diplomas across the country, to support their professional development.

“This new National Certification is poised to enhance the quality of early childhood education in the country and ultimately expand access to ECCD in the country. This is a critical step forward that finally puts early childhood education in the foreground of our reform efforts, as one of the most strategic interventions to address our learning crisis,” Executive Director Dr. Karol Mark Yee said.

“This is evidence that coordination between education agencies is possible, and coordination could get us to win-win solutions,” Yee continued.

As stated in the EDCOM Year One Report, only 52.2 percent of CDWs in the Philippines hold a college degree.

The remaining CDWs include those with a high school diploma, vocational certification, some college units, and a small percentage with post-graduate degrees.

The findings also show that approximately 52.6 percent of CDWs are aged 46 and above.

EDCOM 2 Co-Chairperson Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, commended TESDA for establishing competency standards for early childhood education through the NC III certification.

“I thank TESDA for coming up with a national certification specifically for child development workers. Right now, we have around 68,000 CDWs, only 11,000 graduated just at the high school level. And of course, we want to as much as possible professionalize and upskill our CDWs,” Gatchalian said.

EDCOM 2 Commissioner Senator Joel Villanueva, who sponsored the TESDA budget, manifested that this proposed allocation aligns with TESDA’s ongoing efforts to enhance early childhood education competency standards and professionalize child development workers.

“TESDA developed the competency standards for ECCD Level three, and is developing the training regulation, including the assessment tools and identifying training entry requirements,” Villanueva said.

The proposed scholarship program not only seeks to equip CDWs with essential skills through NC III certification but also aligns with TESDA’s goal of workforce professionalization by encouraging the pursuit of higher-level certifications.

EDCOM 2, in previous discussions, emphasized that advanced NC levels provide skills and competencies comparable to those of a college degree.

These higher certifications equip graduates with specialized expertise that meets the demands of various industries.