Australia provides P98.7M in support of PHL educational reform

THE AUSTRALIAN government, in partnership with the private sector-led Philippine Business for Education (PBEd), is providing P98.7 million in support of educational reform initiatives.

“Australia believes that quality education is key to a prosperous and productive nation. We have been a longstanding partner to the Philippines and strong supporter of its education reform goals,” Australian Ambassador to the Philippines Hae Kyong Yu said in a statement on Wednesday.

“In this new phase of our partnership with PBEd, we will support the Philippines to achieve an education system that provides the skills and knowledge needed for future jobs,” she added.

PBed is a non-profit organization founded and driven by the country’s top business leaders.

Under the partnership, the Australian government and PBEd will work on four focus areas: senior high school curriculum improvement, industry involvement in skills development, improving teacher quality, and enhancing education data collection and assessments.

“Australia’s support aims to help improve the quality of education and develop the skills of future workers,” it said. “This is a crucial effort at a time when the number of jobless Filipinos has increased amidst rapid changes to technology and types of future jobs available for young people.”

Unemployment rose to a four-month high of 4.8% in January from the 4.3% in December as temporary holiday jobs were discontinued, the Philippine Statistics Authority said.

This is equivalent to 2.37 million jobless Filipinos in January, against the 2.22 million in December.

PBEd and the Assessment, Curriculum and Technology Research Centre will work together to support the plans of the Department of Education (DepEd) on reviewing and revising the K to 12 curriculum.

With the support of Australia, PBEd also plans to establish more sector skills councils, which conduct labor market studies, to better align the skills of workers with the demands of industry.

To improve teacher quality, the Australia-supported Research Centre for Teacher Quality will develop the competencies of teachers and school leaders in curriculum development and instruction, expand career progression for teachers, and strengthen the Teacher Education Council that looks into pre-service teacher education reforms.

PBEd will also help DepEd improve the Australia-supported initiative, the Enhanced Basic Education Information System and Learner Information System, which serves as the primary source of Philippine education data on students, teachers, and schools.

“Nation-building starts with quality education,” PBEd Executive Director Justine B. Raagas said.

“An integrated approach to education reforms, starting from elementary school, is crucial for a seamless and foundational building block for a productive future workforce.” — Alyssa Nicole O. Tan