Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 11) — Vice President Leni Robredo said the national government should be alarmed at the current state of Philippine education, believing the coronavirus pandemic has worsened the situation.
During her weekly radio show, Robredo cited several issues hounding the country’s educational system, which was recently in the spotlight after World Bank issued its report stating the Philippines is lagging behind.
“Para sa akin, dapat mag-deklara ng krisis sa education para pagtuunan nang mas malaking pansin,” she said.
“All hands on deck na tayo. Rather than maging defensive tayo, gawin na natin ‘yung lahat…,” Robredo added.
[Translation: For me, a crisis in education should be declared to provide more focus on the sector. It should be all hands on deck. Rather than be defensive, we should exhaust all efforts.]
Last week, the Department of Education demanded an apology from the World Bank for the latter’s failure to inform the agency on the release of the “insulting” report, which was based on outdated data.
The report, which said 80% of Filipino children fare poorly in studies “do not know what they should know,” used inaccurate data and that the government was not informed about its release, which is against protocols, Education Secretary Leonor Briones previously said.
The World Bank issued an apology to the Philippine government on Friday.
READ: World Bank apologizes, regrets publishing PH education report without DepEd inputs
However, Robredo said that the DepEd should also present updated information so the government will know the areas that need improvement.
“In fairness naman sa DepEd, marami silang ginawa na na hindi nag-reflect sa study. Sana magkaroon ng update based on the latest data para mas alam natin kung saan tayo ngayon,” she said.
[Translation: In fairness to DepEd, they have done a lot that was not reflected in the study. Hopefully there will be an update based on the latest data so we know better where we are now.]
Robredo also raised on Sunday the lack of support to teachers, the unending problem of malnutrition, the widening gap between the private and public schools, and the current learning setup imposed amid the pandemic.
“More than a year nang wala sa paaralan ang mga bata. Ang tingin ko mas lumala pa ang situation, sana mali ako,” she said.
“Maraming students ang nagsasabi na nahihirapan sila mag-aral with the current setup,” Robredo said.
[Translation: The children have been out of school for more than a year now. I think the situation got worse, I hope I was wrong. Many students have been saying they have difficulty studying with the current setup.]
Robredo also pointed out that the administration has been shelling out more money for public works compared to the education sector.
