DepEd launches first-ever long-term plan to improve quality of basic education

The Department of Education (DepEd) on Friday launched its Basic Education Development Plan (BEDP) 2030 to improve the delivery and quality of basic education and experience of students.

In her speech, DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones said the department had ventured into developing its first-ever long-term plan for basic education to strategically address the immediate impact of COVID-19 pandemic on learning and confront the challenge of quality education.

She said the BEDP 2030 was designed to address “the root cause of problems on quality, close the access gaps, sustain and enhance relevant programs, and introduce innovations in fostering resiliency and embedding the rights of children and the youth in education.”

“The co-creation of learning spaces will also help to cope with the fast-changing global education imperatives. We want our learners to be globally competitive, to be resilient and productive nation-loving citizens,” Briones said.

“We also want them to acquire the competencies defined in the plan for them to be able to achieve and apply in real-life situations,” she added.

According to DepEd Director of Planning Service Roger Masapol, the long-term plan will be implemented in two major phases.

Masapol said for the Phase 1 (2022 to 2025), it will be a response to immediate impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on learning and participation and address issues on quality of basic education.

He said the Phase 2 (2026 to 2030), on the other hand, will focus on sustaining gains, introducing innovations, and evaluating policies and programs.

The long-term plan covers all formal education from kindergarten, elementary, junior high school to senior high school, as well as non-formal education through the Alternative Learning System.

The DepEd director also called for support on the long-term plan’s implementation phase to address the challenges and improve the basic education in the country.

Sought for comment, Liloan Mayor Christina Frasco, spokesperson of Vice President-elect Sara Duterte, said the plans of the current administration on the education system would all be taken into consideration.

“All proposed plans of the current administration are noted and will be taken into consideration and rationalized, as necessary, to fit the vision of the incoming administration, with the view to improving the state of the Philippine education system and ensuring responsiveness to the evolving needs of learners and schools in the post-pandemic era,” Frasco said in a message to GMA News Online.

Duterte was picked by the Marcos administration to lead the DepEd. She had accepted the offer.

Last February, the DepEd authorized all regional directors to begin the “progressive expansion” phase of face-to-face classes for both public and private schools in areas under Alert Level 2 and below.

With this, only vaccinated teachers may participate in the face-to-face classes, while vaccinated learners are preferred.

The pilot testing of face-to-face classes in the country started in November 2021 for both public and private schools subject to strict health protocols.

Salary hike, rationalize workload

Meanwhile, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Friday prodded the incoming administration of President-elect Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. to prioritize increasing the salaries of public school teachers and rationalizing their job functions to allocate more time for teaching.

The lawmaker, who is set to retain his chairmanship of the Senate basic education committee, made the statement as he vowed to continue seeking reforms in the education system in the country.

"[T]he incoming administration should prioritize raising teacher salaries and ensuring adequate health insurance for teachers," Gatchalian said in a statement.

"[T]he Department of Education (DepEd) should follow the recommendation of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) to conduct studies on teachers’ workload, which will rationalize the job function of public school teachers and allow them to allocate more time for teaching," he added.

For the senator, proper implementation of the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers will uphold the welfare of the public school teachers.

Before the end of the 18th Congress, Gatchalian sponsored Committee Report No. 645 on the inquiry of the Senate basic education panel on the implementation of the Magna Carta, which the Senate adopted.

To address the "education crisis" in the country, Gatchalian said he will prioritize pushing for the full resumption of face-to-face classes, the review of the K to 12 system, among others.

Gatchalian cited anew the study of the National Economic Development Authority which showed that lack of face-to-face classes for a year will result in a projected P11-trillion loss in productivity over the next 40 years.

In response, Frasco said the welfare of teachers is of utmost importance to Vice President-elect Duterte whose chairmanship of the Local School Board of Davao City have versed her well on the challenges that teachers face.

"Under VP-elect Sara Duterte’s leadership of the Department of Education, teachers can rest assured that the DepEd will be responsive to their needs," she said.—with reports from Hana Bordey and Anna Felicia Bajo/AOL, GMA News