Edcom 2: Boost early childhood, primary education curricula

MANILA, Philippines — Amid the numbers of “struggling readers” among Grade 1 students, the Second Congressional Commission on Education (Edcom 2) urged the Department of Education (DepEd) to strengthen the curriculum in early childhood and primary education.  

This, as 75 percent of Grade 1 learners have been found to be “struggling readers”, based on DepEd’s Comprehensive Rapid Literacy Assessment for the start of School Year 2026 to 2027.

Edcom 2 pointed out that students have to catch up in Grade 2 and Grade 3 levels, before they proceed in primary education to prevent a wide reading gap.

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This school year, it noted that 45 percent, or about 2.2 million Grades 1 to 3 students are struggling readers.

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READ: Edcom 2 turns to youth for insights on education reform

It called for DepEd to ensure that there is a stronger link between the curriculum of early childhood care and development (ECCD) in child development centers and daycares, up to kindergarten, and Grade 1.

Under Republic Act No. 12199, or the ECCD System Act, Education Secretary Sonny Angara serves as the co-chairperson of the ECCD Council for the ECCD curriculum.

“The law also makes DepEd responsible for children aged five to eight and directs it to recognize early childhood education as the foundation of the learning continuum,” Edcom 2 said in a statement.

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During a forum, Dr. Nonie K. Lesaux, Dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education said that addressing the issue of low reading comprehension among children must start in early education.

“We need to mount a much more intensive Kindergarten and first grade experience, both in time and in the intensity of the curriculum,” she stressed.

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Edcom 2 cited that although 90 percent of Filipino children enroll in kindergarten, only 34 percent of children aged 3 to 4  have access to early childhood education.

It further highlighted insufficient schools with 4,604 barangays having no child development centers, according to data from the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian said that under the ECCD System Act, DepEd can now properly set the foundation for early childhood and kindergarten, before students enter primary education.

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“Under our law now, DepEd has authority over the curriculum. The vision is that the entire Philippines will have a DepEd-led curriculum [for ECCD in daycares] that is connected to Kindergarten and elementary,” he said. /gsg