GO! Education campaign gains public support

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Education recently concluded its eight-month long exhibit caravan on its Greater Opportunities! (GO!) Education program.

The last leg of the GO! Education exhibit was held at the Music Hall of SM Mall of Asia from Feb. 9 to 10, 2013. The exhibit VIP Program was opened by Education Secretary Armin Luistro, USAID Philippines Chief of Mission Robert Bursch, AusAID Chancellor Elaine Ward, and Philippine Business for Education (PBED) president Chito Salazar.

The GO! Education program focuses on three components to improve access and quality of basic education in the country. In developing this campaign, the government received the support of the private sector, notably the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), and Philippine Business for Education (PBED).

During the exhibit opening, Luistro, reading an excerpt from President Aquino’s message for the occasion, said, “The future of our nation rests on the broad shoulders of a well-educated, informed citizenry, a people ready to forge a more equitably progressive nation.”

The exhibit aimed to create public awareness on the accomplishments of the Department of Education, particularly in improving the quality of teachers, enhancing the basic education curriculum through the K to 12 Basic Education Program, and addressing gaps in education resource to achieve a zero backlog by 2013.

“Because of the overwhelming support for the GO! Education program from various sectors and you, our partners, we are closer to bridging the gaps in education before the end of the year. We have more classrooms, more competent teachers, more seats, more textbooks, and more sanitation facilities,” the DepEd Secretary told exhibit guests. “While we have made significant inroads, much work is left undone. Lasting basic education reforms will take more years and decades to fully implement and realize.”

DepEd Region IV-A Director Diosdado M. San Antonio, an ambassador of the GO! Education campaign, had said in interviews that the success of the GO! Education campaign hinges on collaboration between academic stakeholders, and private and public sector officials.

GO! Education ambassadors Sabrina Ongkiko and Princess Gatan, both public school teachers in Quezon City, underwent training in Singapore under the Leaders and Educators in Asia Program to hone their skills to improve the quality of public education.

“It’s a big task to take care of close to half a million teachers, but the fact that teacher quality is one of the components of the GO! Education campaign says a lot. It’s saying that we are important to the department,” they said.

The GO! Education exhibit was started in July 2012 following President Aquino’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) wherein he expressed his full support for the DepEd’s reform agenda by increasing the agency’s budget for 2013 to P292.7 billion.

Since the GO! Education campaign started last year, significant milestones in the improvement of basic education in the country have already been achieved. Aside from an increase in the DepEd’s budget and more partnerships with the private sector, Congress has also ratified the Enhanced Education Act of 2013, which is more popularly known as the K to 12 Law.

Alongside the public exhibitions, the Go Education campaign was also made available online through www.education.ph