SPONSORSHIP SPEECH OF SENATOR ALAN PETER "COMPANERO" S. CAYETANO ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF VARIOUS NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOLS, 8 June 2008

"A man reaps what he sows". Galatians 6:7

Mr. President, Distinguished Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Everyone agrees that education is not only important but essential. In fact, it is one of the essential ingredients for national development.

Mr. President, for more than three decades now, our education system is plagued with problems and challenges which are centered on the twin problems of access and quality.

Access which is manifested by the dismal statistics of a high dropout rate and low completion rate.

Statistics from the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization Regional Center for Educational Innovation and Technology (SEAMEO INNOTECH) reveals a typical cohort over the past 30 years wherein for every 100 Grade 1 entrants, 15 will not proceed to grade 2, 66 will graduate elementary school, 58 will go up to secondary education with 43 graduating. Of the 43 finishing high school 23 will go to college with only 14 graduating with a university degree.

We are addressing these challenges. The People's Senate passed Senate Bill No. 2408 on third and final reading. The bill seeks to provide an additional increase of P9,000.00 in the monthly salaries of public school teachers as well as non-teaching personnel The Senate version of the bill has already been transmitted to the House of Representatives.

The People's Senate also increased the budget for school buildings in the 2008 budget. Several bills are being studied

The Senate Committee on Education, Arts and Culture is also conducting hearings on the amendments to the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers to improve the economic and working conditions our teachers and improve their over-all welfare.

We are also hearing a number of bills on curriculum development. We are not only looking at expanding the number of years of schooling but we want to make our curriculum strong on mathematics and science and technology.

Since of the basic thrust of our educational system is to provide education for all, the government has been subsidizing state universities and colleges (SUCs) to increase access to education. However, we are also looking into current proposals to expand the government's scholarship program.

Our bills on Special Education recognize that special children have their rights as well to quality education. Special children need specialized care and attention by the very nature of their distinct circumstances. Integrating special education program within our public school system is the main intent of the proposed bills.

Recognizing the scarcity of educational infrastructure facilities, we are considering the introduction of an open high school system or distance learning approach to our secondary public school system.

The bills on school buildings propose amendments to Republic Act 7880 in order to address the shortage of school buildings in the country by establishing a program for the acquisition of school sites and the construction, maintenance, rehabilitation, and repair of school buildings in the public elementary and secondary schools nationwide.

While our Chamber is exerting its best efforts to improve the general workings of our educational system, we must never forget that many are exerting much effort to solve one problem at a time in this case the establishment of more high schools high schools and providing more schools for barangays without high schools.

Mr. President, it is my honor to present the following bills on the establishment of 25 national high schools in our country for the favorable consideration of this Body.

As far as increasing access to public high schools is concerned, the ___ bills before us today may seem like drop in the bucket. However, to the thousands of students, hundreds of teachers and thousands of parents who are enrolled at these schools, the benefits of these bills will go a long way.

The LGUs will continue to play a big role in educating the children within their constituencies. For while nationalization of these high schools will eventually pass the burden to the national government, this process takes time. Furthermore, the problems of each school are so bad that LGUs will simply shift their resources to support other schools or other projects still in education.

Mr. President, I ask for my colleagues' support. Let us face the problems head on. Let us approve these bills and make a difference in these areas.

Thank you and God bless.