[Be The Good] What should the incoming DepEd secretary prioritize?

The Rappler community is abuzz with the news of the selection of Senator Sonny Angara as the new education secretary. Education is a big deal for our community of student groups, youth leaders, educators, media and information literacy experts, and education reform advocates. 

Angara brings a fresh face, new energy, and, most importantly, a clean slate for the Department of Education (DepEd). With his appointment, the department sheds some of the baggage it had accumulated under Vice President Sara Duterte – the red-tagging, the politicization, and polarization.

But nobody envies Angara for the gargantuan task ahead of him. The DepEd’s problems are larger than life: the 159,000 classroom deficit, the dismal performance of Filipino students in global learning assessments, teachers bogged down by administrative work, the confusing school calendar changes, and so much more.

The pressure on Angara is backbreaking, but, with his experience in crafting education reform legislation, his years as a commissioner of the Second Congressional Commission on Education or EDCOM 2, he knows what he is getting into.

We asked our community what their wishlist for Angara would be. You can weigh in as well by joining the conversation in the education chat room of our Rappler Communities app.

We’ll be collating responses throughout the week, then send them to the senator. 

Rappler app user @jogarsdb wishes that Angara will “strengthen Technical-Vocation Education Training (TVET) Centers that will create skillful and competent Filipino workers.”

Nash Laroya suggests integrating the topic of the West Philippine Sea in the basic education curriculum.

“The Philippines will need a grounded and informed youth that would last the course of this generational dispute,” they say in the education chat room.

It’s not too late to share your wishlist for the incoming DepEd chief in the education chat room! You can find the chat room in the Communities tab on the Rappler Communities app. – Rappler.com

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