By Neil Alcober
Industry-led advocacy group Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) on Monday urged the government to decentralize the country鈥檚 basic education system by involving local government executives and making accountability a core part of improving learning outcomes.鈥淲e believe that the next big change is decentralization,鈥 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鈥攐r even to increase teachers’ salaries.鈥淪o, 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],鈥 he added.PBEd executive director Hanibal Camua emphasized that decentralization is the 鈥渆ngine of change,鈥 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鈥攕uch as hiring teachers and designing solutions鈥攁re made at the ground level where learning actually happens.鈥淲e 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鈥攂efore it’s too late,鈥 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.鈥淥ur 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,鈥 he said.鈥淭o never let a good crisis go to waste鈥攏ot to celebrate hardship, but to recognize a moment of profound challenge with unparalleled opportunities for bold and transformative actions,鈥 Camua added.He stressed that decentralization will not only give autonomy to local government leaders, but will also demand more responsibility from them.鈥淭hey have the autonomy to do things, but you will be accountable for the actions,鈥 he said.鈥淧agdating ng elections, mababa ang inyong performance sa edukasyon, then the people can vote you out,鈥 Camua added.(鈥淲hen the elections come, if your performance in education is poor, then the people can vote you out.鈥)He also noted that the Department of Education (DepEd), under the leadership of Secretary Sonny Angara, already has a decentralization strategy in the pipeline.鈥淢eron po silang decentralization master plan, and that is actually being funded by the World Bank,鈥 he said.(鈥淭hey have a decentralization master plan, and that is actually being funded by the World Bank.鈥)鈥淧ero kung titingnan natin, kailangan ng malawakang policy reform para maipatupad ang decentralization of education. So, kailangan ng suporta ng Kongreso dito,鈥 he added.(鈥淏ut if we look at it, we need broad policy reforms to implement the decentralization of education. So, we need the support of Congress here.鈥)Among the model cities cited for effective use of the Special Education Fund are Valenzuela City, Quezon City, Makati City, and Pasig City.