The Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM II) is now ready to evaluate the country’s education system.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, co-chairperson of EDCOM II, said the review would boost President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s goals to initiate reforms as the country’s educational system suffers major blows and is aggravated even more by the coronavirus pandemic.

“Sa pagbubukas ng 2023, agaran nating sisimulan ang maigting na pagsusuri sa estado ng edukasyon sa ating bansa. Sa pamamagitan ng EDCOM II, magpapanukala at magsusulong tayo ng mga repormang tutugon sa krisis na bumabalot sa sektor ng edukasyon (As 2023 opens, we will start our analysis on the present education system. EDCOM will propose and promote reforms to solve the education crisis),” Gatchalian said.

EDCOM II was created by virtue of Republic Act No. 11899, a measure that Gatchalian sponsored during the 18th Congress.

Under the law, EDCOM II is tasked to evaluate how mandates are observed under the laws that created the Department of Education, the Commission on Higher Education and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).

It would then recommend transformative, concrete and targeted reforms to make the Philippines competitive, both in the education and labor markets.

The commission, which will be aided by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies in terms of research, has three years to accomplish the tasks.

Last December, the Senate named Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto and Taguig City Mayor Lani Cayetano as policy advisors from local government units. Former Ateneo de Manila University president Fr. Bienvenido Nebres and former University of the Philippines College of Social Sciences and Philosophy dean Dr. Maria Cynthia Rose Bautista will serve as advisors from the academe.

Businessmen Alfredo Ayala and Dr. Chito Salazar will represent the business sector. Former TESDA director-general Irene Isaac and Private Education Assistance Committee Executive Director Doris Ferrer will also serve as policy advisors.

To complete the membership to the Advisory Council, Synergeia Foundation and the Civil Society Network for Education Reforms (E-Net Philippines) will represent civil society organizations and development partners engaged in education. (PNA)