SENATOR Loren Legarda on Tuesday urged urgent and sustained education reform as the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) formally submitted its Final Report, Turning Point: A Decade of Necessary Reform for 2026–2035, to the Senate of the Philippines.

Legarda, who co-chairs EDCOM 2, said decisive action is needed to confront what she described as a deepening education crisis in the country.

“When we prioritize education, we uplift the entire nation,” Legarda said, stressing that persistent problems such as learning poverty, classroom shortages, teacher deficits, and weak linkages to the labor market must be addressed head-on rather than ignored.

According to the EDCOM 2 Final Report, nearly half of Grade 3 learners are unable to read at grade level, while 88 percent of Grade 7 students remain unready for secondary-level learning.

Proficiency further drops to just 0.40 percent by Grade 12, underscoring what the commission described as systemic learning gaps.

The report also flagged serious early childhood challenges, noting that 23.6 percent of Filipino children experience stunting, more than 213,000 toddlers remain unreached by feeding programs, and thousands of barangays still lack early childhood education centers.

Teacher-related issues were likewise highlighted, including pressure to pass underperforming students due to a transmutation table that inflates failing grades, mismatches between teacher specialization and assignment, inadequate practicum hours, and promotion incentives that have encouraged the proliferation of diploma mills.

EDCOM 2 further cited persistent infrastructure deficiencies, with a nationwide backlog of about 165,000 classrooms. Learning time is also being eroded by more than 150 mandated activities, while technical-vocational education remains heavily skewed toward low-level certifications.

In higher education, the report pointed to outdated curricula, with standards revised only once every 11 years, as well as overlapping mandates among the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), and the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), which blur accountability and weaken policy coordination.

Student financial aid remains inefficient more than a decade after the passage of the UniFAST Act, while DepEd, CHED, and TESDA continue to operate under organizational structures dating back to the 1990s despite their expanded responsibilities.

Despite these challenges, Legarda said reforms initiated in recent years show that progress is possible.

She emphasized that sustaining momentum requires both urgency and persistence, and reiterated her support for extending the mandate of EDCOM 2.

“As the sponsor of Senate Bill No. 1483, I once again thank my colleagues for their support in extending the mandate of the Second Congressional Commission on Education until December 2027,” Legarda said, adding that the extension would allow the commission to pursue long-term, evidence-based solutions.