THE Department of Education yesterday said 103 Child Development Centers (CDC) will be constructed this school year in low-income local government units in the country.
Education Secretary Sonny Angara said funding for the construction of the CDCs had been approved by the Department of Budget and Management.
“Nagpapasalamat kami kay Secretary Amenah Pangandaman at sa DBM sa pag apruba ng pondo para sa pagpapatayo ng 103 na mga Child Development Centers sa mga low-income LGUs,” Angara said in announcing the development.
(We are grateful to Secretary Amenah Pangandaman and the DBM for approving the funds for the construction of 103 Child Development Centers in low-income LGUs).
“Malaking tulong ito sa pinakamahihirap na barangay para mabigyan ng maayos na alaga at edukasyon (This is a big help for por barangays in the field of education),” he added.
Angara said the construction of new CDCs is part of the overall efforts of DepEd under the Marcos administration that no child would be left behind, even if they have yet to enter formal schooling.
CDCs are facilities of the barangay or LGU where children aged 3 to 4 are prepared before they are accepted into kindergarten and formal schooling.
Last April, the DepEd and the DBM inked a joint circular for the establishment of CDCs in underserved communities.
In signing the joint circular, Angara said then that the establishment of the CDCs would help address learning poverty in the grassroots.
“This marks a major milestone in the country’s effort to provide young Filipino children with quality early learning opportunities,” he added.
The DepEd chief said this will help address gaps identified in the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM II) Year 2 Report released last year, which highlighted the limited access to early learning facilities, particularly in low-income areas.
Under Republic Act 6972 or the Act Establishing a Day Care Center in every Barangay, each barangay should have a CDC to cater to the needs of early learners.
But a study conducted for EDCOM II by the Philippine Institute of Development Studies (PIDS) showed that despite significant investments made by the government, early childhood care and development (ECCD) in the Philippines faces numerous problems ranging from inadequate facilities to the quality of day care workers.
Among the challenges noted in the study are the low participation in early childhood education among Filipino children aged 3 to 4 years old, despite the passage of legislations such as the Kindergarten Education Act of 2013, the Enhanced Basic Education Act, and the Early Years Act of 2013.
The lowest participation rates in pre-kindergarten programs are observed in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, where less than five percent of children are enrolled, compared to almost 40 percent in the Ilocos region, the PIDS study showed.
It added that participation rates remain relatively low even in affluent areas such as Calabarzon and the National Capital Region.
The PIDS study also said that inadequate facilities hamper access to ECCD, thereby limiting opportunities for the learning and development of children.
The study also said that the current supply of capital investments for ECCD needs to be increased to meet the goal of universal access for children aged 3 to 4 to ECCD services.
“The current facilities are short of around 33,000 to meet the 96,000 child development centers required to meet 100 percent of the demand. This requires about P95 billion in capital investments to ensure that facilities meet the standard of a National Child Development Center,” the PIDS study added.
The report also noted that a well-trained and adequately compensated teaching staff, ideally holding bachelor’s degrees with specialization in early childhood education, is also a major factor in the delivery of ECCD services.
It said that the Philippines also needs threefold or 240,000 of its current stock (89,000) of daycare/child development workers to equip the system for universal access of children.
