Education sector still a top priority – Marcos

By Stephanie Sevillano, Philippine News Agency

FILE: TOP PRIORITY. President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. interacts with students and supporters during the launch of the Free Public WiFi site at the MacArthur Landing Memorial National Park in Palo, Leyte on July 7, 2025. The President assured that the education sector remains one of the administration’s key priorities until the end of his term. (PCO Photo)

MANILA – President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. reaffirmed that education remains a cornerstone of his administration’s priorities, vowing continued investments in reforms, infrastructure, and support services during his 4th State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday.

“Puspusan nating inaayos at pinapaganda ang ating sistema ng edukasyon. Sa lahat ng mga pinahahalagahan ng administrasyon, ito pa rin ang nasa rurok (We are intensifying the improvement and betterment of our educational system. In all of the administration’s important concerns, this remains on top),” Marcos said as he recognized challenges in the fields of mathematics, science, reading, and comprehension.

The President cited gains from such literacy programs as Bawat Bata Makakabasa and the Literacy Remediation Program, which reportedly reduced the number of low-emerging readers in Grade 3 by 96.37 percent.

Marcos also highlighted the implementation of the “important” enacted laws, including the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning or ARAL Program and Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD), benefiting learners, particularly in remote areas.

At least 90,000 learners were reported to have improved literacy during the ARAL program in summer, the DepEd earlier said.

The agency also noted that it has “simplified” its enrollment for Kindergarten and ECCD programs to make it accessible to more learners.

For the school-based feeding program, a five-fold increase for beneficiaries is eyed at 1.4 million Kindergarten learners for School Year 2025-2026, while the construction of 328 new child development centers in the poorest municipalities is underway.

Mental health, a growing concern among youth, will also be addressed through the hiring of more school counselors and services under the YAKAP Caravan in partnership with the Department of Health, the President added.

This includes free medical check-ups, vaccinations, cancer screenings, and medicines for learners and teachers.

“Maraming mag-aaral ang nakakaranas ng bullying o kaya’y depresyon. Binabantayan natin ang mental health ng ating kabataan (Many students are suffering from bullying or depression. We are looking into the mental health of our youth),” he said.

More than PHP1 billion has also been allocated for the development of more than 300 Bulilit Centers or barangay child development facilities nationwide.

Besides these, Marcos also assured the continuous construction of more classrooms, which remains one of the country’s perennial problems in the education sector.

The government is constructing 328 new child development centers in the country’s poorest municipalities and plans to build 40,000 more classrooms before the end of his term. He added that 22,000 had already been completed.

“Katuwang ng pribadong sektor, sisikapin nating madagdagan pa ng apatnapung libong silid-aralan bago matapos ang ating administrasyon (In partnership with the private sector, we will strive to add 40,000 classrooms before the end of the administration’s term),” he said.