Senator Win Gatchalian hailed the government’s plans to include teenagers in the COVID-19 vaccination program, a move that the lawmaker says would boost the basic education sector’s return to normalcy and the safe reopening of schools.

Amidst the nationwide celebration of the first ‘National Higher Education Day,’ Senator Win Gatchalian raised again the need to improve the implementation of the ‘Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act’ (Republic Act 10931) or the Free Tuition Law which will ensure continued education for 1.3 million students.

While access to learning remains a challenge for learners and teachers with disabilities amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Senator Win Gatchalian is seeking an inquiry on the status of using the Filipino Sign Language (FSL) as the language of instruction of deaf education under the K to 12 basic education system.

To help boost public confidence on the resumption of face-to-face classes in low-risk areas, Senator Win Gatchalian said it is crucial to contain the spread of COVID-19 and inoculate more people against the virus.

To help spur the country’s recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and help address jobs-education mismatch, Senator Win Gatchalian is urging the government to improve the implementation of skilling and training programs to prepare the youth in meeting industry standards.

Senator Win Gatchalian hailed the proposed establishment of the National Center for AI Research (N-CAIR) under the recently launched artificial intelligence (AI) roadmap.

Efforts to safely reopen schools for the resumption of limited face-to-face classes would be undermined if contact tracing woes are not immediately resolved, Senator Win Gatchalian flagged.

Senator Win Gatchalian bats for the allocation of up to 6% of gross domestic product (GDP) for the overall budget of the education sector next year, the recommendation by the United Nations (UN) under the Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4), to help spur the sector’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

While the Department of Education (DepEd) continues to review the basic education curriculum for 2022, Senator Win Gatchalian pointed out the need to address concerns on the implementation of the “spiral progression approach” and the Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) policies mandated by the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013 or the K to 12 Law (Republic Act No. 10533).