Tenure instability for Child Development Workers in PH flagged

Senator Win Gatchalian raised concerns over the employment status of child development workers (CDWs) in the Philippines, revealing that only 11% or 8,739 of the 78,893 CDWs nationwide hold permanent positions, according to data from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).   “In the quest to professionalize and improve the early childhood care […]

Inquiry on schools’ readiness for SY 2023-2024

Amid the lifting of the public health emergency on COVID-19 and looming weather disturbances, Senator Win Gatchalian has filed a resolution seeking an inquiry on the readiness of basic education institutions to conduct classes for School Year 2023-2024.   Aside from the lifting of the public health emergency due to COVID-19 and the threat of […]

Gatchalian eyes enactment of ARAL bill to support PBBM admin’s focus on learning recovery

The enactment of the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program (Senate Bill No. 1604), which Senator Win Gatchalian filed and sponsored, will be crucial in accelerating learning recovery, a top priority of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. ‘s education agenda.   In his second State of the Nation Address (SONA), the chief executive expressed […]

Mother tongue-based education in multilingual setting an experiment in PH

Citing the lack of studies on the use of mother tongue-based education in a multilingual setting prior to the policy’s implementation, Senator Win Gatchalian described the Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) in the Philippines as an experiment.   “After conducting four hearings, my short summary of this exercise is that the Philippines has become an […]

Stronger LGU involvement in early childhood education

Senator Win Gatchalian is seeking the stronger involvement of local government units (LGUs) in the implementation of early childhood care and development (ECCD) programs.   Despite the established benefits of early childhood education on a child’s development, Gatchalian pointed out that the quality of ECCD services is highly dependent on the financial and budget framework, […]

Medium of instruction used in schools different from learners’ mother tongue

While the Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) policy under the K to 12 Law mandates the use of learners’ first language as the medium of instruction for Grades 1 to 3, some schools end up using regional languages that children are unfamiliar with.   Senator Win Gatchalian raised this in a committee hearing on the […]

Institutionalized local summits to discuss education challenges

Senator Win Gatchalian is proposing to institutionalize the holding of local education summits at least once a year to discuss issues, reforms, and programs.   Gatchalian made this proposal in the 21st Century School Boards Act (Senate Bill No. 155), where he sought to strengthen the role of local government units (LGUs) in improving the […]

Task for EDCOM: Help the 4 out of 10 learners who drop out by Grade 10

Amid on-going efforts to review the K to 12 program, Senator Win Gatchalian identified a challenge that the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM II) should address: how to help the four out of 10 learners who enter Grade 1 but end up leaving school by Grade 10.   Data from the Department of Education […]