Joint Statement on Calling to Uphold the GDP Education Budget

Sustaining the Gains in Education: A Call to Uphold the 4% GDP Education Budget and Fast-Track Important Education Reforms

We, the undersigned organizations representing the private sector, business community, and civil society, recognize the significance of a sustained investment in education to the country’s continued growth and global competitiveness.

We strongly support the current reforms undertaken by the government, particularly our education agencies-Department of Education (DepEd), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to curb the effects of the learning crisis.

To ensure the continuity of these efforts, we urge the government to prioritize three key actions:

1. Institutionalize the 4 percent of gross domestic product allocation as the new minimum standard for future education budgets, not a one-time increase. A sustained, multi-year investment consistent with the National Education and Workforce Development Plan developed by the Second Congressional Commission on Education, and not a one-time increase, is what will allow reforms to take root and deliver results. It is our expectation that education agencies will use these funds for measurable, transparent gains in learning outcomes.
2. Fast-track pending education legislations, including the establishment of the National Coordinating Council for Education to strengthen coordination among agencies and the modernization of the frameworks of CHED, TESDA, and rationalization of professional regulation laws to create a more responsive and adaptive Professional Regulation Commission. This will better align education and training with labor market needs and strengthen coordination among agencies toward a unified reform agenda; and
3. Prioritize the implementation of the Early Childhood Care and Development System Act, which will urgently address the increasing rates in stunting especially during the first 1,000 days and ensure concerted action among the Department of Health, National Nutrition Council, Department of Social Welfare and Development, and DepEd.

Now, more than ever, we need to work together-government, industry, and civil society-to sustain the gains we have made and to ensure that every peso invested in education translates into real opportunity for Filipino learners and workers. We reaffirm our commitment as partners in this effort, and we look forward to working with the government-DepEd, CHED, TESDA, and our legislators- in seeing it through.