The Department of Education (DepEd), with the support of the Philippine Business for Education (PBEd), Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) and United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has launched an Exhibit Expo to introduce the Greater Opportunities! (GO!) Education campaign to the broader public. GO! Education focuses on the three primary components towards improving access and quality of basic education in the country, namely, improving Teacher Quality, Curriculum Enhancements through the K to 12 Basic Education Program, and addressing the gaps in Resources.
The exhibit has been launched in the wake of the 2012 State of the Nation Address address where President Aquino highlighted his full support for the agency’s reform agenda by pushing for an increase of P55.9 billion to P292.7 billion for the 2013 budget of DepEd. This sustains the continued budget increase for basic education, from P177 billion in 2010, to P207 billion in 2011, and P238.8 billion in 2012.
“We hope that through this Expo, people will fully appreciate the benefits of the reforms we are implementing, including those on curriculum through K to 12,” said DepEd Secretary Br. Armin Luistro FSC. “We also want people to know that aside from curriculum reforms, we have also carried out and continue to implement reforms focused on improving teacher quality and augmenting resources.”
In his recent SONA, President Benigno S. Aquino III lauded Secretary Luistro’s efforts to bridge various resource gaps. “I have great faith in Secretary Luistro: Before the next year ends, we will have built the 66,800 classrooms needed to fill up the shortage we inherited—of this, we expect 40,000 for this year. The 2,573,212 backlog in chairs that we were bequeathed will be addressed before 2012 ends. This year, too, will see the eradication of the backlog of 61.7 million textbooks—and we will finally achieve the one-to-one ratio of books to students,” he said.
“Our educational reforms are a significant undertaking; one that will require everyone’s full support and participation,” said Luistro. “Through GO! Education, we want to encourage the entire Filipino community to support DepEd as it pushes for an education that will provide greater opportunities for our citizens,” Luistro said.
The GO! Education Exhibit Expo will run from July 27 to 29 at the The Block Atrium Activity Center, 2nd Floor, SM City North EDSA. In succeeding months, the Expo is set to run in key areas—SM Manila, SM Mall of Asia, SM Pampanga, SM Bacoor, SM Iloilo, SM Cebu, and SM Davao—to bring the advocacy of basic education reform closer to every Filipino.
