Senator Loren Legarda on Monday called for systems-based reforms in the Department of Education (DepEd) to align classroom conditions with the country’s development targets, during the Second Congressional Commission on Education’s (EDCOM II) sectoral review.
‘Education is the system that enables every other reform to work,’ said Legarda, who co-chairs EDCOM II and chairs the Senate Committee on Higher, Technical, and Vocational Education. ‘It is the mind that guides every hand that builds. From health to livelihood, from industry to defense, every pillar of progress stands on the strength of an educated people.’
Citing findings from EDCOM II’s review, Legarda highlighted persistent structural inefficiencies within the education system. These include a backlog of about 165,000 classrooms, only 30 percent of existing school buildings being in good condition, and staffing shortages amounting to 32,916 teachers and 22,124 principals.
Additionally, 1,338 school head positions remain vacant. Legarda also pointed to the overstretched local education bureaucracy, noting that each School Division Office staff supports an average of 1,237 learners and 33 schools.
She acknowledged DepEd’s recent efforts to address these issues, including the creation of 20,000 new teacher items and 10,000 Administrative Officer II positions. She also welcomed the department’s One School, One Principal initiative aimed at professionalizing school leadership.
Other notable measures included the issuance of the first Medical Allowance Guidelines, an increase in the Teaching Support Subsidy for private school teachers from P18,000 to P24,000, and the doubling of the Teaching Supplies Allowance to P10,000 through the Kabalikat sa Pagtuturo Act, a law championed by Legarda.
DepEd reported ongoing projects such as the construction of 328 Child Development Centers in collaboration with local governments, Project Ligtas for geohazard mapping, and Project Talino, which facilitates data-driven partner matching for schools.
The agency has also launched Project SIGLA to monitor nutrition outcomes and expanded early childhood and feeding programs for learners.
Legarda pushed for the full implementation of the National Environmental Awareness and Education Act of 2008, which she authored, and inquired into how culture and history are taught in schools. DepEd affirmed that environmental literacy and cultural identity are integrated across the curriculum.
She further called for increased and sustained funding for the Alternative Learning System (ALS) and Indigenous Peoples Education (IPED) programs, citing that only 46 percent of ALS learners completed the program in School Year 2023-2024.
‘When education fails to reach the poor, the loss is not only in learning but in productivity, opportunity, and national growth,’ she said.
Legarda reiterated that EDCOM II’s mandate is to align education governance with measurable human development goals.
‘Our goal is to build an education system that expands capability, reduces inequality, and prepares every learner to participate fully in national life,’ she added.