Grade school students of the Rosauro Almario Elementary School in Tondo, Manila. (File photo by MARIANNE BERMUDEZ / Philippine Daily Inquirer)
MANILA, Philippines — The advocacy group Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) on Saturday urged local governments to invest in early childhood care and development (ECCD) to develop the foundational skills of students and curb learning poverty.
Justine Raagas, PBEd executive director, underscored that it was crucial to build the basic skills while the kids are still young to ensure they would become better learners.
“The success of many of our education programs, such as K-12, can only happen if we give our children the best start,” she said.
The PBEd cited the United Nations Children’s Fund, which underscored the importance of ECCD in developing foundational skills like reading, writing, and arithmetic.
According to Raagas, it was also at these key learning stages when kids develop “strong social and emotional skills that eventually contribute to their soft skills, which are needed in the workplace.”