THE PHILIPPINE Business for Education convened education stakeholders from public and private sectors to draw common solutions to the learning crisis.

“We’re all here because we’re interested in seeing an improvement in the quality of our human capital. We want our country to become more competitive. We want to arm our people with the ability to improve the quality of their lives. This is not a job for one sector of society only, it needs an all-hands-on-deck and whole-of-society approach,” PBEd Chairman Ramon del Rosario Jr. said during the 2023 Higher Education Summit.

The education summit is the fifth organized by PBEd to push education reforms and provide learners better access to quality education. This year’s theme is “Reimagining Workforce Development in the Philippines.”

“These series of higher education summits speak to the commitment of multiple stakeholders, and the power of coordination. Education is a national economic strategy. It is everybody’s business,” PBEd Executive Director Justine Raagas said.

Over 80 key representatives from government industry, academia, and civil society organizations attended the summit held last February 16 and 17 in Shangri-La, Mactan, Cebu.

Among the participants were Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, Rep. Kiko Benitez, Rep. Mark Go, Commission on Higher Education Chairman Prospero “Popoy” de Vera and Department of Education Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III.

The participants shared a list of priority areas to work on, namely education governance, standards and assessment, public-private complementarity, teacher quality, and early childhood education care and development.

“With the challenges in the education system, coordinated, collaborative and intentional work are necessary. Reforms in education governance must be in place to address challenges in devolution and proper coordination among education agencies. Public and private sector complementarity will also help in harnessing the private sector’s strengths and linkages with the labor market,” Raagas said.

He also stressed the need to support teachers.

Other education stakeholders and leaders expressed their commitment to work together to ensure that learners are provided with quality education and equipped with competencies necessary to join the labor force.

“We’re coming together at a time where there is a major opportunity, which is EDCOM II (Second Congressional Commission on Education). We should not be dependent on one solution for reform, rather, we should be open to multiple solutions for reforms,” PBEd President Dr. Chito Salazar said.