Angara seeks help in addressing education problems: 'I can't do this alone'

New Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Sonny Angara on Monday asked officials and employees of the department to assist him in addressing the problems in basic education. 

Speaking during his first flag-raising ceremony as DepEd chief, Angara called on all DepEd personnel to have a “constructive dialogue and come up with solutions soon” with him. 

“Unang una hihingi ako ng tulong po sa inyo, ladies and gentlemen, dahil hindi ko kaya itong mag-isa. Many [problems] are decades-old, have historical origins, so ang importante diyan unawain natin ang mga problema. Intindihin natin,” he said. 

(First of all, I’m asking for help from all of you because I can’ do all of these alone. Many problems are decades-old and have historical origins, so what’s important here is for us to understand the problems. Let’s try to understand them.) 

“Mag-usap tayo [Let's talk]. Let’s have a constructive dialogue and let’s come up with solutions soon dahil the President is really awaiting results dito sa atin [from us],” he added. 

Angara, who replaced Vice President Sara Duterte as DepEd secretary, said that among the marching orders of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to him was to take care of teachers, as well as to raise the quality of education in the country. 

The former senator earlier said he would study the proposal to increase the entry-level salary of public school teachers to P50,000.

He also said that he aims to improve the performance of Filipino students in national and international assessments.  

“Quite frankly, it’s become an embarrassment for us. It’s become a national embarrassment. Wala akong sinisisi dito. Sinasabi ko lang na kung gusto nating resolbahin ito ay kailangan magsama-sama tayo [I’m not blaming anyone. I’m just saying we should work together if we want to resolve this],” Angara had said. 

“We must put our best thoughts, our best intentions, and our best actions together to achieve the best results,” he added. 

Angara officially took over the DepEd leadership on July 18, 2024. —KBK, GMA Integrated News