Retrogressing

The recent abolition by Executive Order 632 of the National Coordinating Council for Education (NCCE), and the transfer of all its functions to a Presidential Assistant, not only blatantly violated the law but demonstrated as well the utter absence of institutional memory.

The NCCE was established by Congress to ensure that the country's education agencies will not operate at cross-purposes. It is the keystone of education as it ensures the integrated and coordinated operation of the three agencies responsible for Philippine education: the Department of Education (DepEd), the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).

The EdCom, which I chaired in the early 90's, provided the master plan for educational reforms which resulted to innovative and wide-ranging laws in the education sector.

It created the DepEd, CHED and TESDA, apart from instituting the GASTPE, the Science and Technology scholarship program, and Centers of Excellence in teacher education. The Asian Development Bank and World Bank used EdCom's findings as the basis for education funding for the Philippines.

The DepEd is beginning to stray away from basic education to technical and vocational training. TESDA under the guise of "ladderization" wants its training courses to be credited for higher education. CHED, instead of encouraging development, has promoted the proliferation of public and private tertiary education through regulation.

The unwarranted departure of these agencies from their appointed mandates and responsibilities, as well as the centralizing tendency of DepEd, has muddled up our country's education policy and direction, impaired its credibility, and resulted in the massive loss of our best teachers.