The Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM II) has submitted a 10-year strategic roadmap to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to address a severe “proficiency collapse” within the Philippine education system.
The final report, titled “Turning Point: A Decade of Necessary Reform,” outlines a crisis where learning gaps widen significantly as students progress. National Achievement Test data cited in the report shows that while 30 percent of learners are proficient by Grade 3, that figure plummets to 1.36 percent by Grade 10 and hits a low of 0.47 percent by Grade 12.
The National Education and Workforce Development Plan (NatPlan) 2026–2035 seeks to halt these losses by restoring foundational learning. Key priorities include strengthening early childhood education, expanding nutrition programs, decongesting classrooms, and reducing administrative workloads for teachers.
Notably, the plan calls for an end to “mass promotion,” a practice where students are moved to the next grade level regardless of whether they have mastered the required skills.
Tingog Partylist Representative Jude Acidre, an EDCOM II co-chairperson, said the findings are difficult but necessary to face and stressed that the work was grounded in evidence rather than comfort and reflects a commitment to rebuilding the system from the ground up.