The Education sector's top priority will be learning recovery in order to deal with the student learning losses brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said in his second State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday, July 24.
Marcos highlighted the blended learning methodologies and alternate delivery methods that the Department of Education (DepEd) has adopted, taking the pandemic's lessons into account "to ensure unhampered learning."
"We have renewed hope in giving the best to our next batches of students, especially that 28.4 million learners who returned to school this year. Learning recovery will be at the forefront of our education agenda," he said prior to a joint session of Congress at the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City.
A National Learning Recovery Program was previously adopted by the DepEd to overcome the learning gaps that were reinforced by school closures and disruptions brought on by the pandemic. Additionally, it seeks to address students' "low performance" in international, large-scale, and national assessments.
Recognizing Vice President Sara Duterte, who also chairs as the DepEd Secretary, Marcos assured that the government will be at the forefront of rapid and responsive delivery of service in education by mentioning the Matatag agenda.
Wherein MATATAG has four critical components:
- MAke the curriculum relevant to produce competent, job-ready, active, and responsible citizens;
- TAke steps to accelerate the delivery of basic education facilities and services;
- TAke good care of learners by promoting learner well-being, inclusive education, and a positive learning environment; and
- Give support to teachers so they can teach better.
In January, DepEd launched its MATATAG Agenda, which highlights the agency's two-track approach of complementing the traditional solutions of hiring more teachers and building more classrooms with more innovative solutions of tapping modern technology to bridge the gaps in basic education.
