Published February 1, 2023, 9:44 AM
A member of the House minority bloc is backing the efforts of Vice President and Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Sara Duterte in addressing the challenges hounding the country’s basic education system.
“I personally laud and support the Vice President for her commitment to improve the quality of basic education in the country in her capacity as the Secretary of the Department of Education,” Deputy Minority Leader and Bagong Henerasyon (BH) Party-list Rep. Bernadette Herrera said in a statement Wednesday, Feb. 1.
The minority bloc in the House of Representatives are traditional composed of government critics. But in this case, Herrera only has good things to say about the former Davao Ciity mayor.
“I have absolute confidence in her ability to institute much needed reforms to make the Philippine basic education system competitive and at par with other countries,” Herrera added of Duterte.
The party-list solon issued the statement after Duterte launched the “MATATAG” agenda, which would serve as the DepEd’s roadmap in addressing the challenges in the basic education sector under her term as education chief.
MATATAG aims to focus on making curriculum relevant to produce competent and job-ready, active, and responsible citizens; taking steps to accelerate delivery of basic education facilities and services; taking good care of learners by promoting learner well-being, inclusive education, and a positive learning environment; and give support to teachers to teach better.
These key strategies, according to Herrera, would “surely help the basic education sector continue to recover from the pandemic and address the problems that have long existed in our education system.”
Herrera said she is also ready to support whatever laws or policies that the Vice President wants Congress to prioritize for the basic education sector.
Herrera said she was particularly amazed by the Vice President’s determination to get children’s education back on track with the resumption of full face-to-face classes after two years of intermittent distance learning during the pandemic.
“We have seen the tremendous work VP Sara has done to help schools reopen for in-person learning and allow our children to safely return to school,” she pointed out.
“I believe this is just a preview of how she will lead the DepEd in the next six years. With her strong leadership and firm political will, people can expect VP Sara to undertake some bold reforms that will help improve and transform our country’s basic education system,” she added.
