Category: Education

Following the economy’s gains from the government’s accelerated infrastructure program, also known as ‘Build, Build, Build,’ Senator Pia S. Cayetano is pushing for a similar initiative to fast-track the progress of quality tertiary education in the country. 

Cayetano has filed the Priority Infrastructure for Public Higher Education Institutions Act, which she called the ‘Build, Build, Build’ Program for Education Bill.

The yet-to-be-numbered bill maps out a five-year priority infrastructure plan, with a fixed budget of P10 billion, for the improvement of facilities in State Universities and Colleges (SUCs). 

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) will be tasked to identify the priority infrastructure projects based on the needs of the 112 SUCs across the country.

Cayetano said the government has made notable strides towards giving Filipinos better access to education, especially with the passage the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act that grants free tuition to students in SUCs.

However, she lamented that while students have been accorded free tuition, a great number of SUCs in the country still “grieve for educational infrastructure.” 

“Thus, there is a need to enact a law ensuring that the facilities made available to students are well-equipped and of high quality,” said Cayetano. 

“Classrooms remain overcrowded and hallways are still being used as classrooms in many SUCs. There is also a shortage of Science and Computer laboratories. These conditions are not optimal for learning and likewise for teaching. Poor educational infrastructure impedes the intellectual growth and health of the youth,” she added. 

Cayetano said the bill was a fulfillment of her campaign promise to push for a measure that would allow Filipino graduates to be more globally competitive and job-ready. 

The bill is expected to boost the country’s efforts to ensure quality higher learning and upgrade its education facilities by 2030 under its Sustainable Development Goals. It also seeks to help the government meet its objectives under the Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022, particularly on improving the quality of higher and technical education for global competitiveness. 

Other education measures that the senator has filed so far in the 18th Congress include the Inclusive Education for Children and Youth with Special Needs Bill, Educational Roadmap Bill, as well as the measure providing for additional support and compensation for educators in Basic Education. 

The former chairperson of the Senate Education Committee, Cayetano authored laws in previous Congresses promoting the welfare of Filipino students, namely the Unified Student Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education or Unifast Act (Republic Act 10687), Iskolar ng Bayan Act (Republic Act 10648), Ladderized Education Act (RA 10647), Open Distance Learning Act (RA 10650), and Open High School System Act (RA 10665). #

In line with this year’s celebration of Labor Day, Senatorial aspirant Pia S. Cayetano vowed to continue fighting for measures that will improve the quality of education in the country and make Filipino graduates job-ready. 

The congresswoman was in San Fernando Pampanga on Wednesday (May 1) to attend the 117th Labor Day Celebration spearheaded by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

During her speech, Cayetano stressed the importance of allocating more budget for the improvement of the Philippine education system in order to prepare young Filipinos to be competitive members of the workforce.

“I will continue to fight for us to put in more budget for education because the demands that will be put on our labor force will be very high,” she said, particularly stressing Central Luzon’s great potential to be a center of economic growth in the country, owing to the region’s continued infrastructure developments.

On this note, Cayetano said the government and the private sector should work together to ensure that the youth are ready to take on the challenge of meeting the demands of booming industries.

“We already have free tertiary education. But the question is, how well does our quality of education compare to our Asian neighbors,” she noted.

“That is where my education advocacy comes in, because free education alone is not enough. It is our collective responsibility to help young people get the opportunities that they deserve,” she added.

The Taguig representative urged the Department of Education (DepEd), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), local government units (LGUs), and other concerned agencies to make sure that their Senior High School (SHS) Programs are really training students to be hireable.

She also pushed for the proper implementation of Republic Act 10687 or the Unified Student Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education (UniFAST) Act, of which she was an author.

“I am delighted that one of my laws has already been implemented, which is the UniFAST law. Through this, government can give up to P60,000 worth of financial assistance to poor and deserving students,” Cayetano said.

A known advocate of the youth sector in Congress, Cayetano authored more laws promoting the welfare of Filipino students, including the Iskolar ng Bayan Act (Republic Act 10648), Ladderized Education Act (RA 10647), Open Distance Learning Act (RA 10650), and Open High School System Act (RA 10665), among others. #

Senatorial aspirant Pia S. Cayetano believes that it is possible to effectively reduce the number of school dropouts throughout the country by giving educators the means to support students with learning disabilities. 

Cayetano, in a radio interview in Cebu City on Thursday, stressed that students who drop out of elementary and high school usually have special needs early on that were not given proper attention. 

“The reality is, many out of school youths dropped out because they had learning disabilities. They had no access to support systems in their school. It’s very possible that their own parents, perhaps due to poverty, also had no ability to support them,” she said.

A 2018 study conducted by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) showed that undiagnosed learning disabilities are among the most common causes of risk for dropping out among Grades 1-6 students.

“These children simply could not cope with the pressure. So we need to identify and assist these kids before they drop out. We need schools, especially during the first three grades, to have assistant teachers who can give additional attention to them,” Cayetano noted. 

The congresswoman said she plans to discuss with the Department of Education a proposal to establish volunteer programs for parents who are willing to assist teachers in responding to specific needs of students in the classrooms.

Cayetano also called on Sangguniang Kabataan leaders in the country to help encourage out-of-school youths to return to school by taking advantage of programs available to them, such as Alternative Learning Systems or ALS. 

“Let’s find a way for them to excel and then bring them back in alternative learning systems,” she added, while citing the Open High School Program, a system of education that uses multimedia technologies and flexible class schedules to allow students to continue their studies beyond the conventional classroom setup.

The author and sponsor of Republic Act No. 10665 or the Open High School System Act, Cayetano vowed to push for the law’s proper implementation by ensuring that every school district in the country offers ALS programs for high school students. #

Senatorial aspirant Pia S. Cayetano on Monday vowed to fight for a ‘package’ of education laws in Congress that will cater to all the needs and concerns of Filipino students. 

In a radio interview in Dumaguete City, the congresswoman said she plans to file bills that will complement the pro-education measures that she authored in previous Congresses. 

“I want to file continuing laws or a series of interrelated measures that will really contribute to the welfare of our students. It’s not enough to have only one idea. We need to cover all the concerns of each sector,” she stressed. 

For one, Cayetano said she wants to strengthen the implementation of Republic Act 10647 or the Ladderized Education Act, which she authored and sponsored in the Senate. It institutionalizes the ladderized interface between technical-vocational education and training (TVET) and higher education.

“Under the law, students have the option to find work after finishing a short course on technical-vocation and then study an advanced course afterwards, with all their experience credited,” Cayetano explained.

On the other hand, she cited that ladderized programs are not yet available in many schools in the country. Hence, she wants more educational institutions to develop such programs.

“What I am planning to do if I get back to the Senate is to check how many schools are already offering this program. Not all students have the means to continue studying, some have to work after they graduate,” Cayetano said. 

Furthermore, the Taguig representative said she wants to introduce an amendment in Republic Act 10648 or the Iskolar ng Bayan Law, to provide additional educational assistance to deserving students. 

“Without the support in terms of allowances for transportation, board and lodging, and other school supplies, free tuition will not be enough for many students,” noted Cayetano, who also authored RA 10648.

“One of the work that I really need to do is to bring back my original proposal under the Iskolar ng Bayan Law. I will amend that to include allowances for deserving students,” she added, stressing that the welfare of Filipino students should be a public concern.#

Pushes for measures beyond free tuition

In time for this year’s graduation season, Senatorial aspirant Pia S. Cayetano reiterated her commitment to champion measures that will improve the quality of education for Filipino students and provide them with more assistance.

Cayetano was in Bacolod City on Sunday, where she met with members of the city’s Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) Federation to discuss how she will push for programs to help the youth. The congresswoman said she intends to lobby for increased budget allocation for education to institutionalize measures that will complement the law on free tuition in State Universities and Colleges (SUCs).

“Our education budget should not stop at free tuition. It should include investments in the quality of education. We should rank our universities and even the private schools based on this kind of quality,” she said in a mix of Ilonggo and English.

Cayetano said more funds should be allotted for the improvement of schools’ infrastructure, training programs for Filipino teachers, as well as additional assistance for poor and deserving students. She noted that, despite the free tuition for college students, parents still have to shoulder expenses required to take their children to school, including costs for food, transportation, board and lodging, books, and other school supplies, among others.

“There are many more benefits for our students that I plan to institutionalize if I return to the Senate,” Cayetano said in a radio interview also in the city. She said she plans to adopt the best practices of local governments in promoting better access to quality education, such as Taguig City’s Lifeline Assistance for Neighbors In-need (L.A.N.I.), a comprehensive scholarship program intended for the city’s constituents.

The LANI Program offers different scholarship types, including scholarships for students enrolling in premier Philippine universities, grants for those pursuing Masteral or Doctoral degrees, and review assistance for graduates preparing for their board or bar examinations.

“In Taguig, we are very proud that we have a comprehensive program on education. Those are the kinds of programs that I want replicated; the best practices in education that we can institutionalize and standardize,” Cayetano noted. #

If elected to a new term in the Senate, House Deputy Speaker Pia S. Cayetano said she would prioritize the evaluation of the country’s Senior High School (SHS) system to gauge whether the program has met the objective of making K-12 graduates job-ready. 

“Sa larangan ng edukasyon, ang bibigyan ko ng prayoridad ay ang Senior High School program. Nagpa-graduate na tayo ng first batch ng Senior High Schools last year. Sa dalawang taon na kinuha natin sa buhay nila, ano bang mga skills ang natutunan nila?” Cayetano asked in a radio interview on Tuesday. 

The youth and education advocate said that if given the chance to serve at the Upper Chamber, she would file a Senate resolution seeking to evaluate the implementation of the country’s K-12 Education Program, particularly the SHS programs in both public and private schools across the country. 

To recall, the K-12 system aims, among others, to make senior high graduates job-ready or equipped with basic entrepreneurial skills. 
A study conducted in 2018 by the Philippine Business for Education however showed that only 20 percent of the 70 leading companies in the country are open to hiring SHS graduates.

Meanwhile, a separate study by JobStreet last year revealed that only 24 percent of employers using its website are ready to hire SHS graduates for entry level positions.

“In fact, naka-draft na ang resolution. Ifa-file ko ito agad dahil gusto ko magkaroon ng immediate feedback sa lawmakers sa kung ano ba ang nangyari, kung job-ready ba itong mga bata,” Cayetano shared.

The congresswoman recognized the need to further improve the country’s education system to better fit the demands of hiring industries, as well as to address the job and skills mismatch among Filipino graduates. 

“May nagsasabi talaga sa side ng government at ng private sector na may demand, pero hindi raw nafi-fill. Kulang daw talaga ang mga skilled workers,” Cayetano lamented. 

The senatorial aspirant then proposed to develop a human resource database for senior high and college graduates in the country in order to improve the government’s strategies in meeting the human resource needs of particular booming industries.

Cayetano, who formerly chaired the Senate Committee on Education, is also pushing for the improvement of Filipino youths’ English proficiency to make them more globally competitive. #