President's cabinet cluster on education

ON Aug. 5, 2024, the House of Representatives Committee on Basic Education and Culture, and the Committee on Higher and Technical Education held a joint hearing on Concurrent Resolution 28, the resolution which urges the President to create a cabinet cluster for education to ensure a strong and close coordination among government agencies on education, particularly the Department of Education, Commission on Higher Education (CHEd), and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda). Concurrent Resolution 28 is an offshoot of a letter sent by the EdCom 2 to President Marcos Jr., urging the creation of a cabinet cluster for education in view of the need to provide strong oversight to all education agencies under the executive department.

The education sector in the Philippines, as we all know, is governed by a system composed of different sectors. The governance of basic education, higher education, and technical and vocational skills training and development constitute an integrated Philippine education system. Each sector is governed by a government agency that is separate and independent from each other, and thus the system is described as "trifocalized."