THE COMMITTEES on Basic Education and Culture and Higher and Technical Education at the House of Representatives moved to consolidate and approve resolutions that will create a Congressional Oversight Committee on Education.

In a virtual hearing, members of the committees agreed to endorse to the plenary House Joint Resolutions 26 and 27.

The oversight committee will be composed of five members each from the House of Representatives and the Senate. It will review, assess and evaluate the performance of the agencies regulating basic and higher education.

In his sponsorship speech, Aurora Rep. Rommel Rico Angara cited numerous challenges faced by the Philippine education system. These include declining enrollment in junior high school to senior high school, shortages of teachers and classrooms, large class sizes, low levels of learning achievement and low passing rates in licensure examinations.

“The conditions of the transformation and the disruption of traditional education due to the pandemic and digital advancements have made it crucial at this point to review the entire eco-system of our education sector so that we can make sure that it is responsive to the current times,” Negros Occidental Rep. Francisco Benitez said.

He added that solutions to problems in basic education can be coordinated and executed “within the sphere of higher education.”