FORMER Education Secretary Bro. Armin Luistro urged Vice President-elect Sara Duterte-Carpio to listen to education experts in identifying the needs of the educational sector.

“My recommendation is to listen to the education experts on the ground. They will be able to share with the new DepEd secretary that on the ground (where) there are a lot of needs and priorities that are really more important than just the militarization of our schools, so to speak,” Luistro said.

President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. earlier announced that Duterte-Carpio accepted his offer to be the secretary of the Department of Education.

The outgoing Davao City mayor earlier proposed mandatory military training for Filipino youth, a move opposed by some groups.

Luistro, who served as DepEd chief under president Benigno ‘Noynoy’ Aquino III, said that he is open to the idea of the ROTC.

“I will not close the door on that, especially if that is ordered towards, let’s say, why not senior high school students teaching, tutoring struggling students? So even that, if you tweak it a little, can actually be an important contribution to the educational needs of the country,” he said.

He also urged Duterte-Carpio to give attention to the schools in far-flung areas.