MANILA, Philippines – HINIKAYAT ng Department of Education (DepEd) ang local government units (LGUs) at mga barangay na magtayo ng mas maraming daycare centers para makatulong na matugunan ang puwang sa childhood care at development sa bansa.
Sinabi ni Education Secretary Sonny Angara na ang pre-kindergarten education ay hindi sumasailalim sa mandato ng DepEd, subalit binigyang diin na may mahalagang papel ito sa child’s development.
“Kulang na kulang tayo,” ayon sa Kalihim sa sidelines ng Rise Against Hunger Program at Quirino Elementary School sa Quezon City.
“We need to catch children at ages 0 to 5 because once they enter kindergarten, much of the damage has already been done. The problem is that only 29% of our children aged 3 to 4 are enrolled in daycare centers. LGUs, municipalities, and barangays should build more daycare centers,” anito pa rin.
Sa kabilang dako, ayon sa Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), mayroong 20% ng mga bata na may edad na 3 hanggang 4 ang naka-enroll sa pre-kindergarten programs noong 2022.
Sinabi pa ng PIDS na may 23% ng mga bata ang nakinabang mula sa school feeding programs.
Gayundin, sinabi ng PIDS na ang bansa ay nahaharap s akakapusan ng 33,000 daycare centers, na may 33,000 ang umiiral na pasilidad kumpara sa 96,000 na kailangan. Sinasabi pa rin na ang bilang ng child development workers ay one-third lamang ng kinakailangan.
Nauna rito, ang DepEd, kasama ang Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) at Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) Council, nilagdaan ang implementing rules and regulations (IRR) ng Early Childhood Care and Development System Act, mahigit isang taon matapos ipatupad ang batas.
Tinugunan din ng Kalihim ang naunang pahayag ng Philippine Business for Education (PBEd), kung saan inilarawan ang tinatawag na ‘pace of education reforms’ sa Plipinas bilang “dangerously inadequate” para baligtarin ang decades-long learning crisis sa bansa.
“What’s important is that it’s moving. If we can expedite it, we will. But I think, on the part of DepEd, we’re doing what we can. We will see if there is anything more that we can do,” anito.
Tinukoy pa rin ni Angara ang pagsisikap ng DepEd na palakasin ang Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program, palawigin ang school-based feeding program, at pabilisin ang school infrastructure projects.
“The school building program is the largest we’ve seen in many years. We’re also taking care of our teachers through promotions. So I think it’s kind of working,” anito. KRIS JOSE
