Following the kickoff of the National Children’s Month celebration this November, I want to emphasize the need to improve the quality and delivery of early childhood care and development (ECCD) services, including nutrition programs.
Mobilizing local government units (LGUs) will be key to achieving this goal. Under the Basic Education and Early Childhood Care and Development Alignment Act (Senate Bill 2575), which I authored and sponsored, LGUs shall be responsible for the implementation of ECCD programs, which cover the full range of health, nutrition, early childhood education, and social services development programs for the holistic needs of children below five years old.
To achieve universal coverage for the National ECCD System, LGUs shall identify young children, including the poor, vulnerable, and marginalized, and support their parents or parent-substitutes. LGUs shall also be responsible for providing facilities and resources and creating plantilla positions for child development teachers and child development workers, among others.
According to a May 2024 discussion paper by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), around 3.7 million or one in every three Filipino children below five years old are stunted or too short for their age. The study added that for 2022, only 20 percent of Filipino children aged three to four participate in pre-kindergarten programs.
Bahagi ng pag-angat ng kalidad sa edukasyon ng bansa ang pagpapatatag sa pundasyon ng ating mga kabataan sa pamamagitan ng early childhood care and development o ECCD. Sa pagkamit ng layuning ito, mahalaga ang papel ng ating mga LGUs upang maabot natin ang bawat bata, matiyak na makakalahok sila sa mga programa ng ECCD, at matugunan ang kanilang pangangailangan sa kalusugan at nutrisyon.
Still on the topic of education, following a Department of Education (DepEd) report that more than half of public schools lack qualified principals, there is an urgency to update existing policies to address the gap.
Data presented during a hearing of the 2nd Congressional Commission on Education (Edcom) revealed that only 20,718 of 45,918 public schools nationwide have filled principal positions. The remaining 24,480 only have teachers-in-charge who often need more training and support.
Based on 1997 staffing parameters, principals are assigned to elementary schools with nine teachers and secondary schools with six teachers. According to Undersecretary Wilfredo Cabral, the DepEd is already finalizing the new standards with the help of Edcom to ensure that each public school has a principal.
Malaki ang papel na ginagampanan ng mga mahuhusay na punong-guro upang paghusayin ang performance ng ating mga guro at mga mag-aaral. Mahalagang matugunan natin ang kakulangan ng mga punong-guro sa ating mga paaralan, lalo na’t makakaapekto ito sa pagsisikap nating iangat ang kalidad ng edukasyon sa bansa.
I call on the National Educators Academy of the Philippines, DepEd’s professional development arm, to support principals with training programs, which will help them perform their duties more effectively.
There is also a need to revisit a 1999 rotation policy, which requires principals to be transferred to other schools after three to five years. Based on experiences of public schools in Valenzuela, science schools, for example, need math- and science-oriented principals.
