MANILA, Philippines — Sonny Angara, the recently appointed Secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd), disclosed on Wednesday that he met with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. over the weekend to talk about ways to address problems in the education sector.
In their conversation, the president asked Angara what he would do if he were to be appointed to the DepEd. Following a concert at Malacañang, Angara described the encounter as relatively relaxed.
Angara made a commitment to deal with teachers’ workload. DepEd has begun employing non-teaching staff in an effort to lessen the workload on teachers and free them up to focus more on their teaching responsibilities.
Angara acknowledged Congress as the top policy-making body and declared he would follow its directives about the K–12 program. Furthermore, he said that President Marcos emphasized the importance of strengthening the curriculum and raising the nation’s dismal PISA rankings.
According to the Presidential Communications Office, the Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations and the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities are among the important educational organizations that have endorsed the new DepEd chief.
The appointment of Angara to the role by President Marcos has been praised by lawmakers. Rep. Zaldy Co, the head of the House appropriations committee, called it a “wise choice” due to Angara’s wide background and knowledge in education.
“With Senator Angara at the helm of DepEd, I am confident that we will see enhanced cooperation between the government and educational institutions,” said Bagong Henerasyon Representative Bernadette Herrera, expressing her faith in Angara’s leadership. To achieve our objective of giving every Filipino child access to a high-quality education, we must work together in a cooperative manner.
