Industry-led advocacy group Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) on Monday urged the government to decentralize the country’s basic education system by involving local government executives and making accountability a core part of improving learning outcomes.

“We believe that the next big change is decentralization,” PBEd president Dr. Chito Salazar said during a press conference at Tryp Hotel in Pasay City.

According to Salazar, local leaders should have the authority to decide if more classrooms and teachers are needed—or even to increase teachers' salaries.

“So, we really 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 emphasized that decentralization is the “engine of change,” but it must result in comprehensive and time-bound access to quality education.

He underscored the need to institutionalize the Local School Board, the Special Education Fund, and a strong school leadership corps to ensure that key decisions—such as hiring teachers and designing solutions—are made at the ground level where learning actually happens.

“We need to scale up ECCD [Early Childhood Care and Development] and implement the ARAL Law and remediation programs to make sure that every child can read, write, and do mathematics at the right level—before it's too late,” Camua said.

He also urged the government to align the technical-vocational and higher education curricula with real industry demands so that graduates are prepared for actual employment.

Camua added that the education system must invest in better teacher support, school leadership, and an improved classroom-to-learner ratio.

“Our learners cannot wait. 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 of crisis to turn the tide for our learners,” he said.

“To never let a good crisis go to waste—not to celebrate hardship, but to recognize a moment of profound challenge with unparalleled opportunities for bold and transformative actions,” Camua added.

He stressed that decentralization will not only give autonomy to local government leaders, but will also demand more responsibility from them.

“They have the autonomy to do things, but you will be accountable for the actions,” he said.

“Pagdating ng elections, mababa ang inyong performance sa edukasyon, then the people can vote you out,” Camua added.
(“When the elections come, if your performance in education is poor, then the people can vote you out.”)

He also noted that the Department of Education (DepEd), under the leadership of Secretary Sonny Angara, already has a decentralization strategy in the pipeline.

“Meron po silang decentralization master plan, and that is actually being funded by the World Bank,” he said.
(“They have a decentralization master plan, and that is actually being funded by the World Bank.”)

“Pero kung titingnan natin, kailangan ng malawakang policy reform para maipatupad ang decentralization of education. So, kailangan ng suporta ng Kongreso dito,” he added.
(“But if we look at it, we need broad policy reforms to implement the decentralization of education. So, we need the support of Congress here.”)

Among the model cities cited for effective use of the Special Education Fund are Valenzuela City, Quezon City, Makati City, and Pasig City.