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Sen. Edgardo J. Angara said on
Sunday that whoever wins in the May 2007 legislative elections
should forge a multipartisan consensus to give educational concerns
“a draconian push” in Congress.
Angara said
that the Congress that would convene after the May election would be
the last one with the opportunity to reverse the slide in the
educational system, which he attributes to “decades of
under-investment.”
He pointed out
that of all the state investments, educational investments are the
“most cost-effective and have the highest returns because they
lift entire generations, adding that the current global competition
places a premium on knowledge and information more than anything
else.
“Competitiveness
in the so-called Knowledge Society is determined by the level of
education and training and the corollary social gifts and
intelligence that can only come from adequate education and
training,” said Angara.
Angara, a
former chairman of the Senate education committee and former
president of the University of the Philippines, said that he is
willing to broker such multipartisan consensus for education.
He proposed
that the initial agenda of an “Education Congress“ should be in
the area of basic education, which means providing enough
classrooms, enough books, enough desks, enough laboratories and more
training programs to increase the competency and skills of teachers.
The senator
said that the incoming Congress can initially agree to pass three
laws, which would provide for the following: a law that allocates P5
billion a year for five years to wipe out the classroom shortage in
public schools; a law that grants a five-step increase in the pay of
public schools teachers, from the present P10,000 a month to P15,000
a month; and, a law that allocates money to build modern science and
computer laboratories in all public schools.
The passage of
a law that would help the University of the Philippines recapture
its top ranking among Asian universities should also be prioritized,
according to Angara.
Angara was
either the sponsor or author of several landmark education laws,
including the Free High School Act, the creation of the Tesda and
CHED and the establishment of the voucher system in education via
the GASTPE Law.
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