Press Release
July 6, 2021

As Senate body looks at amending CHED charter, Villanueva bats for better 'teamwork' among education agencies

Senator Joel Villanueva is urging closer collaboration among agencies involved in education so that the government "will have a stronger and unified approach in addressing an education crisis worsened by the pandemic."

As tests and studies reveal the deterioration of the quality of graduates across levels, Villanueva said the Department of Education, Commission on Higher Education, and the Technical Educational and Skills Development Administration "should come up with one strategy on how to improve education."

He said DepEd, TESDA and CHED should work "like three campuses of one school and not as three separate schools independent of each other."

They were never meant to be three independent republics, he said.

Villanueva lamented that the dilution of "the collaborative governance regime," which assigns to the three agencies the role of each "in developing the nation's human capital."

While we have a 'trifocalized' setup in the education sector, "it doesn't mean that they'll be operating like three classrooms with a firewall separating each," Villanueva said.

He stressed the need for "education to be on the same page, so that policies will not be fragmented and for three agencies, and their mandates, to be seamlessly connected."

Villanueva made the call as the Senate committee on higher education, which he chairs, began hearing Senate Bill No. 1744 which seeks to amend the charter of CHED. He said CHED's mandates have evolved through the years, with new ones, like the Free Tuition Law, imposed by Congress.

But amending the CHED's charter, Villanueva pointed out, should go hand in hand with other education reforms, "which is one unfinished work." Among the efforts to reform the country's education system includes conducting a comprehensive study under a congressional oversight committee which the lawmaker is pushing with four other senators.

"While we strengthen each education agency, we must see to that cooperation remains the cornerstone of trifocalized education," he said.

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Villanueva: Maayos na kooperasyon sa mga ahensya ng gobyerno, susi sa pagreporma sa sistema ng edukasyon

Hinimok ni Senator Joel Villanueva na magkaroon ng mas masinop na kooperasyon sa mga ahensya ng edukasyon upang magkaroon ng mas malakas at iisang pagresolba sa krisis ng edukasyon na lubhang naapektuhan ng pandemya.

Ani Villanueva, kailangan ng isang malinaw na estratehiya kung paano tutugunan ng Department of Education, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, at Commission on Higher Education ang mga problema dulot ng pandemya na nakaapekto pa sa pagbaba ng kalidad ng mga graduate sa lahat ng antas.

Kailangan magtulungan ng DepEd, TESDA, at CHED katulad ng "tatlong campus ng isang paaralan, at hindi tatlong magkakahiwalay na eskwelahan na independent sa isa't isa."

Hindi ninais ng mga policymakers ang pagtatatag ng mga naturang ahensya bilang "tatlong magkakahiwalay na republika."

Ayon kay Villanueva, ang pagkakatatag ng tatlong ahensya para sa sektor ng edukasyon o "trifocalized setup" ay "nangangahulugan na kailangan nasa isang pahina ang sistema ng edukasyon sa bansa upang hindi magkawatak-watak ang polisya na ipinatutupad nito."

Nanawagan si Villanueva, chairman ng Senate higher education committee, na nagsagawa ng pagdinig noong Lunes sa Senate Bill No. 1744 na layuning mag-amyenda sa charter ng CHED. Aniya, nadagdagan na ang mga mandato ng CHED sa nakalipas na taon at napapanahon na ang pagrepaso nito upang gawing mas angkop sa panahon.

Pagdiin ng mambabatas, kailangan kasabay ng pag-amyenda sa CHED charter ang pagsasagawa ng karagdagang reporma sa kabuuang sistema ng edukasyon, na layunin ng isinusulong niyang pagbuo ng isang congressional oversight committee na tatalakay sa naturang isyu.

"Habang pinapalawig natin ang kakayahan ng bawat ahensya, dapat po nating siguruhin na ang kooperasyon ng mga ahensya ang mangingibabaw," ani Villanueva.

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