DepEd continues to invest in the war against illiteracy

On track to meet its Education For All (EFA) target by 2015, the Department of Education is set to further strengthen its Basic Education Sector Reform Agenda (BESRA) as it continues to wage war against illiteracy.

According to Education Secretary Bro. Armin Luistro FSC, part of DepEd’s major thrust in 2011 is to beef up its basic education performance and ensure that all school-aged children are in school by 2015.

“This will include system-wide reforms like BESRA which will be critical if we want all our Filipino children to be literate and imbued with life skills,” Luistro added.

BESRA is a package of policy actions organized under five key reform thrusts (KRT) to facilitate the attainment of the EFA goal and objectives. It aims to systematically improve basic education outcomes nationwide. Luistro noted that, “our commitment is not to simply achieve EFA but to provide basic competencies to everyone to achieve Functional Literacy for All.”

Its KRTs include continuous school improvement facilitated by active involvement of stakeholders; better learning outcomes achieved by improved teacher standards; desired learning outcomes enhanced by national learning strategies, multi-sector coordination, and quality assurance; improved impact on outcomes resulting from complementary early childhood education (ECE), alternative learning system (ALS) and private sector participation; and institutional culture change in DepED to facilitate school initiatives and assure quality.

DepEd is now fully implementing decentralization in education management through school-based management (SBM) – where school heads are given the responsibility to secure resources for the school through networking with community stakeholders. Likewise, they are held accountable for the desired education outcomes.

At present, improved teacher standards have been achieved by employing National Competency-Based Teacher Standards (NCBTS) and the Teacher Strengths and Needs Assessments (TSNA). Also, Competency-Based Performance Appraisal System for Teachers (CB-PAST) has been developed to improve the Performance Appraisal System.

BESRA has been effecting improvements in the basic education system. Among its major accomplishments are the formulation, issuance and adoption of key policies needed to put in place a transformed basic education system.

DepEd has also posted improved performance on ECE, ALS, and private sector participation. Records show that the number of five year-old children who enter kindergarten has been increasing annually – from 50 percent in 2009 to 80 percent in 2010. The net effect of the expansion of preschool coverage is evident in the increasing number of grade 1 entrants ready for formal schooling based on the result of Grade 1 Readiness Test which registered a three percent increase - from 37 percent in 2009 to 40 percent in 2010.