This file photo shows students attending a flag raising ceremony before singing the national anthem at a government school in Quezon city (AFP) (P
MANILA, Philippines — A few days before his second State of the nation address (Sona), an advocacy group on Friday urged President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to treat education as a national priority, more than infrastructure development and tourism campaigns.
“Education is a multi-year, multi-decade, multi-administration problem, so it should be given the right attention and resources…We always talk about infrastructure, roads, ports, bridges, airports, tourism campaigns but shouldn’t we invest in what great, prosperous, equitable nations and societies are made of?” said Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) president Chito Salazar in a press conference.
“Hindi ba dapat we invest in our people first before anything else. Hindi ba dapat tao muna bago kalye, bago tulay, bago airport?” he added.
(Shouldn’t we invest in our people first before anything else? Shouldn’t people come first before streets, before bridges, before airports?)
Salazar emphasized the need to fix the country’s “weak education governance system” to address problems brought by decades of neglect across different administrations.
He also cited the need to create a long-term education agenda, as well as develop efficient inter-agency coordination to ensure sustainability in education plans.
According to Salazar, “political calculations” should also be set aside in pushing for education.
“We must make education and nutrition our national concern and national priority. If we focus on developing our people first, many of our problems—from corruption to poverty, to low productivity to joblessness—will be easier to solve,” Salazar pointed out.
“To make education reforms happen…we must set aside political calculations in choosing what is right and what is correct for our children,” Salazar added.
“We hope that our leaders listen to the recommendations of experts and of stakeholders from the ground. From there, we will be able to derive better solutions that are more sustainable and evidence-based that have a lasting impact on the lives of many Filipinos,” said Salazar.