PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Tuesday approved the funding request for the establishment of child development centers (CDCs) in 4th and 5th class municipalities that lack resources to put up basic education development hubs.
Early childhood development proponents asked the President to allocate PhP700 million this year to provide low-income barangays access to early childhood development initiatives.
“Gawin na natin ito. I am thinking the daycare centers can also be CDCs. Ganoon na rin ‘yun eh. You have the same kind of training for the people. The kids are there,” President Marcos said during the sectoral meeting in Malacañang with The Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) and other agencies.
The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) committed to fund the establishment of CDCs for this year.
The PhP700 million, which will be coursed through the Local Government Support Fund (LGSF), will finance the development of CDCs for every municipality, Education Secretary Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara said during the meeting.
Angara said establishing CDCs is a low-hanging fruit in terms of expense and also a much-needed investment in the country’s education sector. Early childhood has been an aspiration of the country since 1978, but, according to data in EDCOM 2’s Year Two Report, 5,800 barangays still don’t have CDCs despite a 1990 law requiring each barangay to have at least one. Some 229 of them belong to low-income LGUs.
Investing in ECCD is a critical step towards improving educational outcomes. It not only reduces dropout rates and boosts completion, but most importantly, it increases the likelihood of achieving literacy among young learners.
The Early Years Act of 2013 requires LGUs to fund the creation of CDCs. But the challenge is that 4th and 5th class municipalities don’t have resources for such centers.
During the sectoral meeting, it was also noted that EDCOM 2 will work with the Commission on Higher Education, Department of Interior and Local Government, and the ECCD Council to increase the number of early childhood education graduates in regions identified to be lacking.
This is in line with the Commission’s call to “fix the foundations” of the education system: early childhood education, nutrition, and early-grade numeracy and literacy.
“By fixing the foundations – nutrition, early childhood education, literacy and numeracy by Grade 3 – we will ensure that our reforms are strategic, targeted, and enduring”, EDCOM 2 Executive Director Dr. Karol Mark Yee said.
Acknowledging the challenges in the education sector, President Marcos said he was happy that many of the issues brought up were addressed.
“We’ve been talking about economic development, we’ve been talking about inflation, agriculture, et cetera. It’s time to shift focus to education. That’s our only hope for the future,” he added.
Recently, the consolidated versions of House Bill No. 10142 and Senate Bill 2575 or the Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) Act was approved by the bicameral conference committee.
The ratified bill introduces comprehensive measures to upgrade the quality of early childhood education. It proposes improvements in health, nutrition, and social service programs for children from birth to four years old.
“We are deeply grateful for the swift action taken by President Marcos and DBM Secretary Pangandaman in securing the funding and establishment of CDCs, ” said EDCOM 2 Executive Director Karol Mark Yee.
“This move shows a committed shift towards prioritizing education as a cornerstone of national development. As the President rightly emphasized, focusing on education is crucial for our future, as it represents our nation’s best hope for achieving sustainable economic growth and development,” he added.
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