VICE President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte said that monitoring and evaluation are keys to making better reforms and decisions.

At the 1st DepEd National Monitoring and Evaluation Conference conducted from June 20 to 22, the vice president said M&E fosters “transparency and accountability and a culture of continuous learning.”

“It empowers us to create and refine education reforms based on data and evidence, guiding us toward better-informed decisions for the benefit of our learners,” Duterte said in her message.

The conference aims to set the direction of DepEd’s M&E system — provide updates on the global and national M&E practices and discuss the principles and standards of M&E; discuss the M&E strategies and mechanisms of DepEd and promote cooperation among DepEd program managers and staff.

“The M&E Conference resonates profoundly with our MATATAG Agenda, symbolizing our unwavering promise to deliver accessible, quality, and equitable education for our learners,” Duterte said.

During the three-day conference, participants from DepEd, Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education, and select DepEd partners gained insights and learnings on M&E concepts, approaches, and strategies.

Among the vital topics were Anchoring M&E to the MATATAG Agenda and Basic Education Monitoring and Evaluation Framework Policy; Measuring Learning Proficiency amid the Learning Crisis; National Evaluation Policy Framework and National Practices on M&E; the Importance of Evaluations in the Education Sector; and the Utilization of Evaluation Findings in Policy Formulation.

Meanwhile, DepEd’s development and government partners conducted breakout sessions to discuss important concepts in developing the M&E framework, establishing the purpose and scope of M&E, gathering the right information, analyzing data, and communicating findings.

The forum also tackled M&E mechanisms in DepEd which includes discussions of the data management and information systems such as the Learner Information System, Basic Education Information System, National School Building Inventory and the Program Management Information System as tools for M&E.