CEBU CITY, July 12, 2019 – Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones on Wednesday underscored the Department of Education’s (DepEd) accomplishments vis-à-vis the challenges in providing access to basic education in the Pre-State of the Nation Address (SONA) Forum: Tatak ng Pagbabago 2019.

“It is with great honor and privilege that I report to you that in the next three years under President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration, we will continue to address the remaining gaps and challenges [in education],” Briones said in vernacular during the forum spearheaded by the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel.

Briones also shared that participation rate in formal education has significantly improved, and that the Department is working from enhancing access to improving the quality of basic education, as mandated by the Constitution.

She cited the Department’s move to strengthen the National Educators’ Academy of the Philippines (NEAP) to capacitate teachers, and its efforts to instill critical thinking among learners.

“Critical analysis is to study and analyze problems and find solutions. Ito ang itinuturo natin sa high school students ngayon,” the Education chief stated, recalling the group of public school students who participated and won awards in the 2019 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair held in Phoenix, Arizona.

Finally, Briones shared the strengthening of DepEd’s Last Mile Schools Program for geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas (GIDA).

“So during the three last miles of President Duterte, we will do something about the 7,000 schools na kailangan pang tulungan,” she added.

With the theme “Patuloy na Pag-unlad at Malasakit,” the Cebu event is the second of the three-part forum in preparation for the President’s 4^th SONA on July 22. The series provides a platform for discussion of policies and programs implemented in the past three years.

Representatives from the Human Development and Poverty Reduction Cluster (HDPRC) and Participatory Governance Cluster (PGC) discussed their efforts to provide every Filipino broader access to education, employment, healthcare, and government services.

Also present in the event were Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rolando Bautista who delivered updates on HDRPC, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año, and Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Officer-in-Charge Janet Abuel who discussed updates on participatory governance.

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