Press Release
September 25, 2010

OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE SET TO REVIEW EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

Senator Edgardo J. Angara filed a resolution to create a Congressional Oversight Committee on Education which is mandated to review and assess the performance of bodies in charge of taking care of the country's educational system, as well as to study approaches and strategies to expand basic education to 12 years.

The Congressional Oversight Committee on Education, which is to have five members from both the House and the Senate, will perform a reassessment of the recommendations set by the Congressional Committee on Education (EDCOM) in 1990, which were either not implemented or acted upon as intended.

Three bodies were created by EDCOM in 1994 which trifocalized the educational system, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), and the Department of Education (DepEd).

Angara said that data shows an alarming decline in our educational system, citing that an almost 100% enrollment rate in 1990 was down to 85% in 2008, almost 25% of enrollees dropped out before the 5th grade, and in the same year out-of school children between the ages of 6-11 breached the 1 million mark.

"Our educational system has to adjust to modern technology and the challenges of the new century. We have to give our youth the tools they need to be able to maintain a high level of competitiveness in the global arena," said Angara.

Both the Congressional Commission on Science, Technology, and Engineering (COMSTE) and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) have also set recommendations in order to modernize the educational system and keep up with international standards, noted Angara.

The oversight committee, aside from conducting a review and assessment of the educational system, will also receive testimonies and reports from experts and stakeholders from around the nation.

A report from the Commission will also include short and long term policy recommendations in the following areas:

i. Sectoral plans and targets

ii. Governance and management

iii. Educational/manpower development curriculum and programs

iv. Financing

v. Convergences among all departments and sectors concerned with human resource management and development for national development

The Findings are to be periodically presented to Congress, with recommended follow-up actions to be taken by the House.

The Oversight Committee will also address the issue of implementing a 12-year public-education cycle.

Angara is a former University of the Philippines (UP) President and the Chair of the Senate Committee on Education.

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