MAGDALO Partylist Rep. Manuel Cabochan III has filed a measure that aims to institutionalize pre-school education.

In pushing the approval of House Bill 2253 or the proposed Pre-School Education Development Act, Cabochan stressed the need to mandate pre-school teachers to continuously undergo training in order to better equip them with the proper tools and techniques of their trade.

“Pre-school education is the first exercise in which children are separated from the comfort and security of their parents, therefore it has to be a second home to the child,” Cabochan said in his explanatory note.

He said that while Republic Act 6972 or the Barangay-Level Total Development and Protection of Children Act recognized the importance of pre-school education, the day care system needs to be enhanced.

House Bill 2253 mandates the State to provide for a universal early childhood or pre-school education that promotes effective social, intellectual and skills stimulation and value-formation for children aged 3 to 5.

Under the measure, “trained day care workers shall be responsible for early childhood education, integrating health, nutrition, safety and psycho-social learnings in the early childhood development program.”

Cabochan hopes that with an enhanced early childhood education, children will be better prepared for formal schooling.