The Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) has urged the national government to decentralize the country’s basic education system and empower local government units (LGUs) to take a more active and accountable role in improving learning outcomes.

“We believe that the next big change is decentralization,” PBEd president Dr. Chito Salazar said during a press conference Monday.

Salazar explained that giving more authority to LGUs would allow them to better address local education needs, such as building more classrooms, hiring additional teachers, and even increasing salaries.

“We need the participation of the local government units and make them accountable for not delivering the best education services for learners in their locality,” he added.

PBEd executive director Hanibal Camua added that decentralization must lead to timely and effective interventions, saying “decentralization is the engine of change, but it has to translate into a complete and time-bound access.”

Camua also stressed the importance of institutionalizing local education mechanisms such as the local school board, the special education fund, and the school leadership force.

These structures, he said, would allow education-related decisions — including teacher hiring and program implementation — to be made where learning actually happens.

To further improve educational outcomes, Camua called for scaling up early childhood care and development programs, full implementation of the ARAL Law, and more robust remediation efforts to ensure all children can read, write, and do math at grade level.

“Our learners cannot wait,” Camua emphasized. “The next three years must be years of decisive and decentralized actions so that when we look back, we can say that we used this narrow window to turn the tide for our learners.”

He also advocated for aligning technical and vocational education, as well as higher education curricula, with current industry demands to ensure students graduate ready for employment.

Investments in teacher support, school leadership, and improving the classroom-to-learner ratio were also highlighted as key priorities.

Camua underscored that decentralization comes with both autonomy and accountability. “They have the autonomy to do things, but they will also be accountable for their actions,” he said. “If, come election time, your performance in education is poor, then the people can vote you out.”

He noted that the Department of Education, under Secretary Sonny Angara, has already developed a decentralization master plan funded by the World Bank.

However, Camua emphasized that wide-ranging policy reforms and congressional support are essential to implement the plan effectively.

Among the cities cited as models for effectively utilizing their special education funds under a decentralized approach are Valenzuela, Quezon City, Makati and Pasig.