INCOMING Education Secretary Juan Edgardo Angara yesterday said reforms in the education system are needed to enable students to be “critical thinkers” amid the introduction of Artificial Intelligence.
In an interview with radio dzBB, Angara said the current basic education and secondary education curriculums should be simplified to focus mainly on reading, science, and mathematics.
“Let us simplify our curriculum. The reading subject of students, I think should be back to basic. It is the instruction of President Marcos to uplift the quality of education in the country because we have witnessed that the exam results in PISA [Programme for International Assessment] have gone down),” Angara said.
“We need to work in our capacity in reading, science, and mathematics because these are all going down. These are the building blocks of the students’ learning abilities and the country’s educational system that we should improve on,” he added.
Angara said the present curriculum is “cluttered” that even unrelated subjects are being taught to learners.
He said he would also introduce reforms in the teaching methods so that learners would become critical thinkers and be able to distinguish what’s real or not.
“Because we are now in the age of Artificial Intelligence where one can easily find answers through computers, we have to teach our students how to think and where to find knowledge,” Angara said, adding: “They should at least be a bit skeptic to every information that they hear or read on the internet or in any other publication.”
He said he would also strengthen the students’ appreciation of history, philosophy, and instill good manners and right conduct.
Angara said he would encourage DepEd officials to properly use the allotted budget to prevent them from having “unutilized funds.”
He said this was what he observed as the Committee on Finance chairman when they deliberated on the proposed national budget year in, year out.
“Almost all of our agencies have a certain percent of their allotted yearly budget not spent for one reason or another. This is not deliberate because there are some unforeseen circumstances. Under my watch, we will try to spend the allotments whether for [the construction of additional] classrooms, salaries. We should spend what was allotted,” he said.
He said they will abide by Congress’ direction policy when it comes to the revival of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program.
Angara said he also plans to do away with the non-teaching work of teachers so they can have ample time to attend to students who need guidance.
He said he would encourage the private sector and community to help uplift the education system in whatever capacity they may have.
“I promise to be a secretary who listens, and consults with teachers, parents, and the community,” he said.
Angara said he also fully supports an increase in teachers’ salary although he said the idea to give a P50,000 salary as entry-level could be impossible since the country now has more than 500,000 teachers.
“If we only give that P50,000 to one teacher, that’s possible. But we are talking now of 500,000 teachers. There will be a lot of voices to be heard before that can be granted to all. We have the Department of Finance, the Department of Budget and Management which are the sources of government funds. But I am 100 percent supportive of that because it will surely have an effect on our quality of education and we get to attract the best,” he added.
Last Tuesday, President Marcos Jr. named Angara as the next DepEd secretary following the resignation of Vice President Sara Duterte from the top DepEd post. Her resignation will take effect on July 19.
Angara admitted that Marcos called him to ask for his plans for the DepEd should he be appointed as the next secretary days before he was informed of the President’s choice.
He said he cannot say “no” to an offer made by the President.
Senate President Francis Escudero, in an ambush interview late Tuesday afternoon, said Angara has the option to immediately resign as senator as soon as his appointment takes effect on July 19 so he can be an ad interim appointee or he can wait to be confirmed by the Commission on Appointments but will hold the status as a “nominee” while working as DepEd secretary.
He said he sees the smooth-sailing confirmation of Angara being their colleague in the upper chamber. He said he expects the same from the members of the House of Representatives who are members of the CA.
He said the Senate will do with only 23 senators once Angara resigns, since it will not be an actual loss to the upper chamber since Angara’s term will end in June 2025.
Escudero said they have to choose who will replace Angara as the chairman of the Committee on Justice.
AN APPEAL
An association of private school teachers yesterday appealed to Angara to look into the problems besetting not only public schools but also private institutions in the country.
Miriam Sebastian, the founder of the Private Schools Teachers Association in the Philippines (PSTAP), told Radyo Pilipinas that among the issues that Angara should look into is Republic Act 11984 or the No Permit, No Exam Prohibition Act.
She said what is confusing for them is that despite the passage of RA 11984, there are pending legislation in the House of Representatives — House Bills 1359 and 7584 — which states who should be covered by the prohibition on the no permit, no exam law.
“This is a challenge to the incoming DepEd Secretary. We are still awaiting clarifications up to now on this,” Sebastian added.
She said such confusion could have an impact on the finances of private schools that have to rely on their own for their operations since they are not funded by the government.
Aside from this, Sebastian said private schools are also not given much exposure, unlike their counterparts in the public sector.
Sebastian said Angara can count on their full support, adding they believe he could inject much-needed reforms to the country’s basic education sector.
ENROLLMENT STARTS
Enrollment in public schools for school year 2024-2025 officially started yesterday, Wednesday.
DepEd Memorandum Order No.32 said enrollment will end on July 26, with classes in public schools set to start on July 29.
The enrollment, according to the DepEd “shall be conducted in person, remotely, or by drop box.”
Last school year, more than 26 million enrolled in public and private schools nationwide. — With Ashzel Hachero
