MANILA, Philippines — Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte on Thursday said it is important to avert the further deterioration of the Philippine education system to save the future of the children and the country.
“Our collective mission is to ensure that we are able to avert the further deterioration of the Philippine education system,” Duterte said at an event in Davao City.
“If we are able to do this successfully, we will be able to save the future of our children and the future of the Philippines,” she added.
Duterte urged people in authority and responsibility to exert hard work to “spark the fire” that will inspire children to work harder to achieve their dreams.
“The kind of hard work that we exert, that we put into our jobs — being adults that children look up to — is supposed to be the kind of hard work that should spark the fire that will inspire them to work harder and harder to achieve their dreams,” she said.
“Success can only be had with hard work,” she added.
The Vice President also stressed the importance of acknowledging the “systemic problems” within the education sector which have “contributed to the learning difficulties hounding our children.”
Duterte also cited the recently launched program of the Department of Education, the “MATATAG: Bansang Makabata, Batang Makabansa,” which she said seeks new pathways to resolve the challenges that the sector faces to ensure the delivery of basic education to learners post-COVID-19 pandemic.