00:00 [Music]
00:06 Elementary school teacher Francis Manalo says his students have difficulty mastering all topics in the curriculum.
00:13 With limited personal supervision time, he says he is unable to explain in detail everything they need to absorb.
00:19 [Music]
00:29 Experts believe a congested curriculum is a factor to the learning crisis.
00:34 Children going to school but not necessarily learning.
00:38 It shows in the Filipino students' low ranking in international assessments.
00:43 The Education Department's response revised the curriculum.
00:47 The new K-10 curriculum retains only more than a fourth of the competencies.
00:52 From over 11,000, it's down to around 3,600.
00:56 The senior high school curriculum is under review as well.
01:00 If we're looking at employability, we should put our learners there.
01:08 Another factor in the learning crisis, teachers taking on a heavy workload.
01:13 [Music]
01:16 Senator Sherwin Bechalian says addressing teachers' welfare cannot be overemphasized.
01:21 If we have qualified, highly trained, highly motivated teachers, you will improve learner outcomes.
01:29 That's for sure.
01:30 But I mentioned earlier that our student population is growing.
01:35 Therefore, the need for more teachers is there.
01:39 [Music]
01:41 The DEPED recognizes the importance of teacher welfare to improve learning outcomes in public schools.
01:47 Under the leadership of Vice President and Education Chief Sara Duterte,
01:52 the DEPED has launched its Matatag Agenda, of which teacher welfare is a major component.
01:58 The agency says it will hire around 10,000 teachers by year-end.
02:03 As well as 5,000 non-teaching personnel, the DEPED also included the hiring of 20,000 teachers in its proposed budget for 2024.
02:11 The Matatag Agenda also targets faster delivery of school facilities.
02:16 But officials say addressing classroom congestion is tricky.
02:20 We always play catch up to the classroom shortage.
02:24 Right now, we have a shortage of 165,000.
02:29 This year, we aim to build around 5,000 to 6,000 classrooms.
02:35 Now, the gap is still big.
02:38 Officials are also considering other measures, such as institutionalizing blended learning.
02:44 Classroom congestion overloaded curriculum and teachers' concerns.
02:49 These problems have hounded the education sector for years.
02:53 Officials assure stakeholders they're doing everything possible to address them.
02:57 But they also appeal for patience as results don't come overnight.
03:02 AC Nichols, CNN Philippines.
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