Angara bats for P19B fund to start 10-year education modernization program

MANILA, Philippines - Team PNoy senatorial candidate and Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara sought yesterday the establishment of a P19-billion seed fund to start an ambitious 10-year education modernization program that would make the country truly globally competitive.

 He said the modernization program he is proposing covers almost all areas from basic to tertiary education, and from school feeding to the revision of the high school curriculum, to the training and retraining of teachers.

“As the economy continues to recover, we have to start modernizing Philippine education and invest in our students to make them skilled professionals and workers who define the country’s economic success,” Angara said.

The massive seed fund should be supplemented by regular budgetary allocations, he said, adding he would push for the modernization program if he lands a seat in the Senate.

Among the aims of the program are that Grade 3 students should be numerate and literate; by the last year of the elementary education, every student should be solidly grounded on Math and Science subjects; every child should be proficient in English by the second year of high school; and every high school graduate is qualified to either enter college or is work-ready from the skills in the practical fields.

He said the target of the massive reform programs is a college graduation rate of 70 students for every 100 students that enter Grade 1. 

Angara said only around 20 percent of those that start at Grade 1 finish college, saying this should be reversed by the modernization program.