SENATE Committee on Basic Education Chairman Sherwin Gatchalian on Tuesday vowed to continuously pursue reforms that will address the crisis hounding the education sector.

Gatchalian stressed that Republic Act No. 11899 created the EDCOM II to conduct a comprehensive national assessment of the Philippine education sector’s performance.

The commission is also mandated to recommend transformative, concrete, and targeted reforms to make the Philippines globally competitive in the education and labor markets.

The EDCOM II, which formally convened on January 23 last year, has three years to fulfill its mandate.

In pursuing the commission’s recommendation, Gatchalian filed the National Education Council Act or Senate Bill No. 2017, which seeks to institutionalize a system of national coordination, planning, monitoring, evaluation, and management between and among the country’s three education agencies.

“Malaking hamon ang pagtugon sa krisis na bumabalot sa sektor ng edukasyon at kailangan nating tiyakin na hindi mapagkakaitan ng magandang kinabukasan ang ating mga kababayan,” said Gatchalian.

The Commission is backing the passage of bills that Gatchalian filed. These include the ARAL Program Act or Senate Bill No. 1604, the Basic Education Mental Health and Well-Being Promotion Act or Senate Bill No. 2200, and the Basic Education and Early Childhood Education Alignment Act or Senate Bill No. 2029.