Sonny Angara has his job cut out for him

We welcome the filling of the post vacated by VP Sara Duterte and are glad to see that it’s Senator Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara who was named by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to head the Department of Education.

Anyone familiar with Sonny Angara’s background would know that he is substantially equipped to address the many challenges besetting Philippine education.

The problems and issues hounding local education are indeed gargantuan.

Consider the alarming drop in enrollment and the significant deficit of 91,000 classrooms in the 2023-2024 school year, which underscores the need for innovative solutions and adequate investments in education infrastructure.

There too are the persistent issues of insufficient funding, with budget-challenged schools’ efforts to provide quality learning hampered by a lack of classrooms and a shortage of educators, resulting in an imbalance in teacher-to-student ratios and overcrowded classrooms affecting teacher-student interaction.

Also current is the problem of schools having to deal with an outdated curriculum leading to a misalignment with the job market’s and society’s evolving needs, leaving students inadequately prepared for the demands of the modern world.

The pandemic exposed wide disparities in digital access with students in remote regions lacking devices and internet connectivity. There is a vital need to address the digital divide in the country.

Equitable access to digital solutions must be pushed to ensure that the next generation of Filipinos can navigate the digital world, enabling the Philippines to achieve — and maintain — a competitive edge in the global playing field.

But before we can even think of competing globally, let’s look at the dire situation of the Philippines where the 15-year-old students have the lowest proficiency in reading, math, and science as indicated in the Programme for International Students Assessment (Pisa) rankings, which is 77th out of 81 countries.

A paucity of resources and the quality of teachers are the two main factors why the Philippines is lagging behind other countries in terms of basic education. The Philippine Business for Education (PBED) points out that the Philippine government allots only from 3 percent to 4 percent of GDP for the education budget, far below the 6 percent global standard.

“We perform poorly, and we spend less,” laments Justine Raagas of PBED.

It is not incidental that Sonny Angara was on the shortlist of Education secretary nominees of PBED, which counts major Philippine conglomerates and some of the country’s wealthiest people among its officers and directors.

Angara has youth on his side, and one needs to have youthful vigor to wrestle with Philippine education’s many problems.

His academic credentials are robust: Xavier and Douai School in England for his lower years, graduating with honors in International Relations at the London School of Economics, a law degree from the UP School of Law, and a Masters Degree in Law from Harvard Law School.

In January 2020, as Aurora lone district representative, Angara filed a joint resolution with the Senate that revived the Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM), the original version of which was created by his late father, former UP president and Senate president Edgardo J. Angara.

EDCOM 1 paved the way for the trifocalization of the Philippine education system, with the DepEd having oversight over basic education, the Commission on Higher Education over higher education, and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority over technical and vocational education and training.

In bringing about EDCOM2, Angara Jr. said, “A lot has been done to improve the country’s educational system over the years but it has become apparent that we need to do more to bring us at par with the rest of the world.”

As the new secretary of Education, he will have an opportunity to show that he can do more for Philippine education, certainly one of the most challenging jobs in government.

His father, as senator and with his stellar contributions to Philippine education, is a tough class act to follow. We have no doubt that as Education secretary, Angara Jr. will rise to the occasion and do Angara Sr. proud.