PASAY CITY -- Senator Win Gatchalian is set to file the substitute bill on the proposed Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) which will undertake a comprehensive assessment and evaluation of the entire education sector’s performance and boost global competitiveness.

EDCOM 2 will review the observance of the mandates of the Department of Education (DepEd), the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) for a more harmonized and coordinated education ecosystem. It will also look at the role of digital transformation in education.

“Given the fact that labor markets are becoming increasingly global and workers are able to move from one place to another, quality does not simply equate to meeting locally set standards anymore. Quality now equates to being globally competitive,” said Gatchalian in a roundtable discussion hosted by the University of the Philippines Center for Integrative and Development Studies.

“Employment mobility is becoming the norm now. Access and exposure to the internet can get one employed in other countries,” he added. 

The chairman of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture said EDCOM 2 must address the question: how do we ensure that higher education graduates are globally competitive?

For Gatchalian, boosting global competitiveness among the country’s graduates requires aligning the country’s qualifications framework to internationally recognized qualification standards. He pointed out how the Philippine Qualifications Framework (PQF) was designed to align with the ASEAN Qualifications Reference Framework. This is to ensure that graduates are equipped with competencies and skills that would make them globally competitive.

Under Republic Act No. 10968 or the PQF Act, the PQF was institutionalized and established to describe the levels of educational qualifications and set standards for qualification outcomes. The PQF is a quality assured national system for the development, recognition, and awards of qualification based on standards of knowledge, skills, and values acquired in different ways and methods by workers and learners of the country.

Gatchalian said that in the draft substitute bill on EDCOM 2, the commission will be tasked to ensure compliance to the ASEAN Qualifications Reference Framework, which enables comparisons of education qualifications across participating ASEAN Member States.  (OSWG)