THE DEPARTMENT of Education on Thursday emphasized that strengthening early childhood education remains a core focus of the government’s education reform agenda.

This comes as the Revised K to 10 Curriculum enters the final phase of its pilot implementation for School Year 2025–2026.

Education Secretary Sonny Angara highlighted that reforms in the early grades must extend beyond curriculum design, noting that learner readiness, nutrition, and classroom realities are just as critical to learning outcomes as policy frameworks.

“Alam natin na ang curriculum reform ay hindi madalian. Real impact takes years. Pero may mga realidad sa silid-aralan na hindi puwedeng ipagpaliban,” Angara said.

He added that the administration of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has been clear that education reforms must lead to tangible improvements in the classroom, even as systemic change naturally takes time.

For SY 2025–2026, about 3.47 million learners, including all kindergarten pupils, received hot meals, while 2.85 million benefited from milk feeding under the School-Based Feeding Program. Kindergarten enrollment also rose to 1.98 million learners, the highest in the past four years.