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EDCOM 2 initial findings: Sen. Win Gatchalian presents the initial findings of the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) report during the plenary session Tuesday, January 23, 2024. The EDCOM 2 report identified a number of challenges that have to be addressed. Gatchalian cited as an example the country’s basic education system which boasts a net enrollment rate close to 90 percent. However, he said results of various international and national assessments indicate that students are not learning effectively while in school. He said this might be due to the lack of sufficient and high-quality learning resources especially textbooks. According to Gatchalian, while over a billion pesos is allocated for textbook procurement each year, EDCOM 2’s review showed that over the past decade, the government has successfully procured only 27 textbook titles for Grades 1 to 10 students, utilizing less than a billion pesos out of the allocated 12.6 billion pesos for textbooks from 2018 to 2022. (Bibo Nueva España/Senate PRIB)