House panel extends EDCOM II’s life

THE House Basic Education Committee approved House Bill No. 4862 seeking to extend the Second Congressional Commission on Education’s (EDCOM II) life, as lawmakers sought to resolve the Philippines’ learning crisis.

The approved version extends EDCOM II’s life by two years, longer than the initially proposed one-year extension under Pasig Rep. Roman T. Romulo’s bill.

“The opportunity of extending will allow us to see through additional research needed for technical-vocational and higher education sectors, considering that the first three years of our work had focused on functional literacy, early childhood and basic education,” EDCOM II Executive Director Karol Mark R. Yee told lawmakers.

Formed in 2022, the education commission was tasked with crafting reforms to address weaknesses in the school system exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic, when classrooms were shut for more than two years, forcing a nationwide shift to online learning that led to stunted learning.

Filipino students were among the world’s weakest in math, reading and science, according to the 2022 Program for International Student Assessment. The Philippines ranked 77th out of 81 countries and performed worse than the global average in all categories.

Nine out of 10 Filipinos are unable to read and understand a simple age-appropriate text at age 10, according to the World Bank.

The bill seeking to extend EDCOM II’s mandate comes as the commission nears the end of its term this year.

The Senate approved a counterpart measure, likewise pushing for a two-year extension. It was approved on second-reading last week.

Extending the commission’s life would allow it to “strengthen and sustain education reform” as the Department of Education (DepEd) is enhancing the school curriculum and Philippine schools’ competitiveness, Dexter N. Pante, a director at the agency, told lawmakers.

“DepEd believes that it is important to extend the work of EDCOM,” he said. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio