San juan city: President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has demonstrated a comprehensive understanding of the challenges faced by the education sector, according to Education Secretary Sonny Angara. This acknowledgment follows the President's emphasis on education as the administration's 'top priority' during his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA), where he recognized teachers as the 'heart of the education system.'

According to Philippines News Agency, Secretary Angara highlighted the depth of the President's understanding of educational challenges, noting that the SONA provided unprecedented detail on the subject. He emphasized that this understanding is genuine and driven by a need to find solutions for the country's youth. The administration's plans include addressing everyday issues in education, such as teachers' workload, learning loss, classroom shortages, and fraud within the DepEd's senior high school (SHS) voucher program.

The welfare of teachers is a significant focus, with Angara expressing optimism about reducing teachers' workloads. Plans are underway to appoint administrative officers in over 40,000 public schools, allowing teachers to concentrate on quality education. This initiative, supported by the President, aims to eliminate nearly 100 non-teaching tasks from teachers' duties, cutting their workload by 57 percent. Additionally, the non-taxable teaching supplies allowance for public school teachers has been doubled, and there are proposals to increase subsidies for private school teachers by 2026.

In addressing student learning, Angara emphasized the importance of foundational learning through the establishment of early childcare and daycare centers, particularly in impoverished and remote areas. The construction of 328 new child development centers is already in progress, and about 900 schools are piloting a revised SHS curriculum to tackle challenges related to graduates' employability.

Angara also assured that investigations into anomalies, such as the alleged ghost students in the DepEd's voucher program, are ongoing, with recoverable amounts reaching PHP100 million. The DepEd has taken steps to distribute newly-procured laptops to public schools, with around 2 million items delivered in collaboration with the Armed Forces of the Philippines.