Legazpi City, 08 March 2023 – The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the ABC+: Advancing Basic Education in the Philippines Project, in partnership with The Asia Foundation (TAF) and Philippine Business for Social Progress(PBSP), gathered more than 70 business and industry leaders as well as corporate foundations to rally support for early grade learning in the Bicol Region. 

Held at Marison Hotel in Legazpi City, the conference was also attended by officials from the 13 Schools Division Office(SDO) of DepEd Region 5 to explore new partnerships and engagement to support learning recovery and improved early grade learning. The initiative also determined potential private sector interventions to complement local government efforts in helping improve learning outcomes of Filipino early-grade learners in the region.

At the conference, Albay Governor Edcel Grex Lagman highlighted the significance of the support of the private sector to ensure the viability and sustainability of education programs and emphasized the provincial government’s efforts in addressing reading and comprehension difficulties of learners. 

“We are serious here in Albay that everyone should be a reader. No Albayano learner must be left behind. This is what’s very important to us. Because if this state of our education persists, this will be a very big problem for our future leaders. This idea is very much sold on me and I hope so too for our private sector partners. We will be needing your help because we cannot undertake to do these programs alone.” he added. 

At the event, DepEd Region V Director Gilbert Sadsad reported the challenges and gains of the 8-week learning continuity plan implemented in the Schools Division of Bicol Region.

“We see this as an opportune time to discuss and share significant milestones that we have reached and our continuing efforts to put in place reforms and innovations that are critical and essential if we are serious in building a better future for our generation. We hope that you have seen a promising vision through our eyes. We hope that this will not end but we will continue to collaborate,” he said.

Director Sadsad also presented its Learning Recovery Plan compendium which is a comprehensive compilation of the implementation of evidenced-based programs and interventions at all levels of the region.

 Meanwhile, the 13 SDOs presented to the private sector the highlights and results of the 8-week Learning Recovery Curriculum (LRC) and showed how these will contribute to DepEd’s new basic education agenda, MATATAG: Batang Makabata, Batang Makabansa, which seeks to resolve country’s education challenges. Among the results were the learning gaps in literacy and numeracy skills of learners that need continuous interventions in the implementation of the learning continuity curriculum and improvement of school facilities and provision of equipment and learning materials.  The private sector representatives pledged to support initiatives that were aligned to the capacities and goals of their organizations.

USAID Education Office Director Thomas LeBlanc emphasized the importance of collaboration with the private sector. “We believe that with the cooperation and collaboration of key stakeholders, we will be able to reach greater scale, sustainability, and effectiveness in achieving our joint development goals for education, including improving the learning outcomes of Filipino children,” said USAID Philippine Education Office Director LeBlanc. 

The conference is part of the many interventions implemented by ABC+ to support DepEd in improving learning outcomes in reading, math, and socio-emotional skills of Filipino children in the early grades(Kindergarten to Grade 3).