VARIOUS STAKEHOLDERS BACK PASSAGE OF EARLY YEARS ACT

Senator Edgardo J. Angara said he was confident of the passage of a measure institutionalizing early childhood education in the country as stakeholders in the government, non-government and private sector expressed their support for said measure.

Congress earlier passed the Early Years Act (EYA), which was later vetoed by Malacanang. This month, Angara authored and filed a new version of the EYA under SBN 3176.

"We welcome the positive responses various entities have expressed towards this bill," said Angara, Chair of the Senate Committee on Education, Arts and Culture. "Now more than ever, is the time to capitalize on the momentum to enact comprehensive reforms on our educational system."

In a recent public hearing on the EYA, Education Secretary Armin Luistro described the education reform as timely adding, "I don't think there was any other time in the history of education in the Philippines where all the difference stakeholders and agencies involved in education are able to come together and see our education as a real continuum--from early years all the way to graduate school."

In the same hearing, Social Welfare and Development Secretary Dinky Soliman explained that the proposed bill puts early childhood education into a system and recognizes that the early years of a child is the time when creative thinking is stimulated and when logic and values are imparted onto the child.

"So we really believe that having put [early childhood care and development programs] into a system of learning, recognizing the different stages of growth as well as the different stages of learning will really be important in enhancing the child's capacity," added Soliman. "This is why I think this is a very important piece of legislation as enhanced now."

Also in attendance were representatives from the Department of Health (DOH), the National Nutritional Council (NNC), the Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) Council, UNICEF Philippines, League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP), Centro Escolar University, Miriam College, Philippine Normal University and Golden Values School.

"The success of the looming changes brought by the shift to K to 12 rests very much on our ability to take care of our children's education even before they step into formal education," said Angara, author of the recently passed Kindergarten Education Act.

The veteran lawmaker concluded, "In this way, EYA is essential to the long-term success of our educational reforms. I, therefore, urge my colleagues to act on this measure expeditiously."