PRESIDENT Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has approved the creation of the Cabinet Cluster for Education to implement reforms in the education system and ensure that education issues are addressed as a whole system rather than in multi-agency silos.

Marcos earlier met with concerned agencies and directed the agencies to devise a coherent and system-wide national integrated education and workforce development strategy, starting from early childhood education to basic education, senior high school, and beyond.

“We are very thankful to the President for his swift action. Actually, it’s our first presentation on this. The presentation was made by (Executive) Director (Karol Mark) Yee of the EDCOM II,” Education Secretary Sonny Angara said.

“And the President basically sa bandang dulo ng meeting, sinabi na niya na in principle, he approves of it and he’d like us to fast-track some of the actions dahil nakikita niya iyong urgency and it’s a very deep-seated problem,” he added.

Angara said the President wants positive interventions for each sector, from early child development, daycare centers, kindergarten, K to 12, college, and tech-vocational programs.

According to the Presidential Communications Office (PCO), the Cabinet cluster’s primary function will be to address the learning crisis, work towards a coherent and system-wide national integrated education and workforce development strategy, targets, and implementation plan, set agency targets and budgets, and establish monitoring and evaluation systems.