Press Release
April 29, 2011

EARLY EDUCATION GAINS GROUND--ANGARA

Senator Edgardo J. Angara today stated his continuing commitment to providing early childhood education following the Department of Education's (DepEd) announcement that more than a million Filipino students have signed up for the public kindergarten program this coming June.

"The numbers reported by DepEd is very encouraging. The high turnout of enrollees show how receptive Filipinos are to exposing their children to early education to maximize learning in their formative years," said Angara.

In a statement earlier today, the DepEd reported that 1,126,722 students throughout the country who have finished preschool had pre-registered for the public kindergarten program. This early registration campaign was initiated in January to gauge the number of enrollees for the approaching academic year.

According to Angara, chair of the Senate Committee on Education, Arts and Culture, the increasing support for early education would result in an improvement of the students' academic performance in later years.

"Early education is very important--this is where our children learn the basic skills and knowledge which will anchor their academic growth. This is especially true for Kindergarten, because this level prepares young students for more challenging requirements that they will face in Grade School," he explained.

Angara is pushing for Senate Bill No. 2700: the Kindergarten Education Act of 2011 which will institutionalize a mandatory kindergarten level in the Philippine Basic Education System. In a sponsorship speech last month, he said that Kindergarten should not be "a mere optional stage of education--skipping this vital year means shortchanging our children's intellectual and social development."

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