LOCAL government units should have deeper involvement in the implementation of early childhood care and development programs, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said.

Gatchalian pointed out that the quality of ECCD services is highly dependent on the financial and budget framework, resources, and political will of LGUs.

The Philippine Statistics Authority estimates that there will be 11.1 million children aged 0 to 4 this July, 4.5 million of which are aged 3 to 4 that the ECCD System should capture, Gatchalian pointed out.

Data from the Department of Social Welfare and Development revealed, however, that there were only 1,260,707 young children enrolled in child development centers for School Year 2021-2022.

Gatchalian asked the ECCD Council to submit to the Second Congressional Commission on Education its proposed reforms to improve governance and the operational structure of the National ECCD System.

“If we don’t change the law, the structure, the governance, we will never achieve universal coverage and produce high-quality child-development teachers and workers, because all of these are in the hands of local government units,” the senator said.

Last March, Gatchalian filed the Basic Education and Early Childhood Education Alignment Act or Senate Bill 2029, which seeks to address challenges hounding the implementation of ECCD programs.

The measure will amend the Early Years Act of 2013 and mandates the ECCD Council to ensure the alignment of the K to 12 basic education curriculum and the ECCD curriculum. It also mandates greater responsibilities on LGUs, through the local school board, on the implementation of ECCD programs.

LGUs’ responsibilities will include, among others, the provision of facilities and resources for the implementation of ECCD programs.

They will also identify and support young children, their parents, and their parent substitutes. LGUs shall also create plantilla positions for child development workers and child development teachers and promote their professional development.