Marcos vows education reform, senators support

Senators Bam Aquino and Sherwin Gatchalian welcomed President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s renewed commitment to prioritize education reforms during his fourth State of the Nation Address.

Aquino, who chairs the Senate Committee on Basic Education, highlighted that six out of seven points in their reform agenda were mentioned by the President during the SONA.

The senators expressed full support for the administration's focus on addressing critical gaps in the education sector, including nutrition, classroom shortage, internet connectivity, textbook delivery, teacher support, learning recovery, and employability of graduates.

Aquino assured Malacañang that the Senate is ready to pass priority measures and exercise strict oversight to ensure effective implementation of reforms.

Among the bills filed by Aquino are the Classroom Building Acceleration Program (CAP) Act, E-Textbook Para sa Lahat Act, Angat Sweldo Para sa Guro Act, and School-to-Employment Program (STEP) Act.

The senator challenged Congress to increase the education budget to at least 4 percent of the national gross domestic product in line with global recommendations.

Marcos reaffirmed education's top priority status in his administration, citing ongoing reforms to address learning gaps, improve teacher welfare, and strengthen foundational learning, while committing to construct over 300 Barangay Child Development Centers and Bulilit Centers with PHP1 billion initial funding.