The Senate adopted a concurrent resolution urging President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to create a Cabinet Cluster for Education to ensure a cohesive and coherent implementation of education laws, policies, reforms and regulations in all government departments, bureaus, commissions and offices.
Concurrent Resolution No. 21, authored by Senators Win Gatchalian, Alan Peter Cayetano, Joel Villanueva and Minority Leader Koko Pimentel III, also calls for the formulation of a long-term integrated national education and workforce development plan, addressing long-standing coordination challenges and gaps in strategic planning across the education sector.
The resolution was shaped by the key findings of the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM II) which was created under Republic Act No. 11899 and was tasked to conduct a comprehensive national assessment of the country’s education sector.
“The resolution reflects not only the collective wisdom of this Chamber but also our shared aspiration to reform and strengthen the Philippine education system.”
“The resolution reflects not only the collective wisdom of this Chamber but also our shared aspiration to reform and strengthen the Philippine education system,” Gatchalian said.
Currently, interagency bodies exist to facilitate coordination on various education-related issues but fail to come up with a unified strategic direction. EDCOM II’s Year One Report, Miseducation: The Failed System of Philippine Education, identified critical gaps in system-wide planning, learning outcomes monitoring, teacher development, and workforce alignment.
Gatchalian said the Cabinet Cluster would ensure alignment, coordination and effective implementation of priority programs across a specific sector, including to serve as the venue for the formulation, review and recommendation of policies to rationalize the use of resources towards the sector, and facilitate and monitor the implementation of priority programs.
The Cabinet Cluster for Education shall be co-chaired by DepEd, CHED and TESDA.
Under the proposed concurrent resolution, the Cabinet Cluster for Education shall be co-chaired by the Department of Education (DepEd), Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), with DepEd serving as the secretariat and providing administrative support to the body.
A concurrent resolution is a measure passed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate, expressing the will of the entire Congress, but not requiring the President’s signature for becoming law. It’s used for matters affecting the operations of both houses and lacks the force of law.
