EDUCATION Secretary Leonor Briones called on all the members of society to help solve the problems faced by her department saying that education is a shared responsibility.

“Education has become a shared responsibility. We call for the involvement of all sectors of society, in addition of course to the Ministries of Education who are leading these efforts. It is a shared responsibility because of the added threat — the health threat in our countries,” Briones said during the 5th Strategic Dialogue for Education Ministers.

She noted that challenges in the education sector cannot be separated from the problems in society.

“The impact of Covid in economy, for example the Philippines has been badly affected and has resulted in the loss of thousands of jobs which also limits the capacity of parents to continue sending their children to school,” she added.

To mitigate the effects of the pandemic and other societal problems, Briones said the Department of Education has developed a learning continuity program with the help of organizations and government agencies.

Through the Basic Education-Learning Continuity Plan, DepEd introduced blended learning and addressed the digital divide by increasing digital learning support to schools and communities that need it the most.

In line with this, Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization Council President Chan Chung Sing stressed that collaboration across countries will help learners achieve a well-rounded education.

“What doesn’t change is what Secretary Briones mentioned, which is the saying, ‘it takes a village to bring-up a child’ and this collaboration between parents, the teachers, the society, is so important in the well-rounded education that we will like our children to experience,” Sing emphasized.

Sing also said education through digital and blended learning will widen the capabilities of learners in creating a better future.

“This experience of full home-based learning provided us  a glimpse of the future reality, where pandemic or not, our students and workers will need to be 100 percent digitally literate and abled. And it strengthens our intention to prepare every student, especially those with less resources, tools, and capabilities to drive in this digital future,” he said.

Meanwhile, Malaysia’s Minister of Education His Excellency Dr. Radzi Jidin mentioned that the openness of SEAMEO member countries to technology and digital learning is an integral component of the region’s strategy in learning continuity.

The 5th SDEM was attended by the Ministries of Education from Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Timor-Leste, Viet Nam, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Philippines, Myanmar, and Thailand.