US’s P283-million project to aid DepEd in addressing local learning debacles

THE United States government on August 24 announced a P283-million ($5 million) project to help the Department of Education (DepEd) address education challenges.

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) created the program to boost DepEd’s capacity in assessing education quality among Filipino learners.      

With various implementing partners’ support, USAID’s five-year project “Improving Learning Outcomes for the Philippines” or ILO-Ph will aid DepEd in designing, implementing, and evaluating the latter’s full range of education programs from early childhood education to labor-force development.

 By way of ILO-Ph, USAID will provide DepEd with on-demand technical assistance, regular consultations, as well as training sessions to boost its strategic communications and data-analysis systems. These will enable the department to better track Filipino learners’ progress in standardized examinations, and measure learning recovery from the pandemic.

ILO-Ph will also aid DepEd in policy-relevant research to help Filipino educators enhance their teaching methods and positively impact learning outcomes.

“As…enduring friend, partner, and ally, the US government, through USAID, will continue to work with local partners to make quality education accessible to…educators and learners [everywhere] in the Philippines so we can build stronger, more prosperous communities,” Deputy Education Director Yvette Malcioln of USAID Phils. said.

Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte called the new linkage a “significant milestone” that would bolster DepEd’s goal of addressing basic learning challenges under the “MATATAG: Bansang Makabata, Batang Makabansa” agenda.

“The impact of policy-relevant research and technical assistance on educators and young learners can be profound. These can alter the fate of their future and consequently, the course of our nation,” Duterte said, in remarks delivered by DepEd Assistant Secretary G.H. Ambat during the launch. “In the face of challenges and changes, initiatives like ILO-Ph offer hope and inspiration. I wholeheartedly support this noble project, and encourage…stakeholders to tap into its transformative potential.”

Image credits: United States Embassy