NEDA-SDC BARES STRATEGIC PLANS TO FOCUS ON ACHIEVING BASIC EDUCATION, MATERNAL HEALTH MDGs
MANILA— The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) – Social Development Committee (SDC) will step up plans to improve the country’s chances of achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), particularly on basic education and maternal health by 2015.
“The President is very much concerned about basic education and maternal health where the Philippines is lagging. There is robust evidence that human capital is a strong determinant of poverty, and this is why the government is looking into these issues,” said Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan, an acknowledged expert in Asia on poverty.
Balisacan, who chaired the meetings of the NEDA-SDC on May 18 and June 14, said among the strategies discussed were the immediate implementation of policy interventions on improving access to and quality of basic education, government’s support for maternal and reproductive health, and intensified rollout of the conditional cash transfer (CCT) program.
“We only have three years to go, and I would like the SDC to concentrate on untangling the issues that hamper our efforts in education and health,” said Balisacan.
Citing latest statistics, Balisacan said that elementary and high school participation rates as of school year 2010-2011 were at 89.89 percent and 60.88 percent, respectively. Secretary Balisacan also said that as of 2006, maternal mortality per 100,000 live births was estimated at 162, which is far from the 2015 target of 52.
Balisacan has also instructed the National Statistics Office and National Statistical Coordination Board, which are both attached agencies of NEDA, to execute timely release of social statistics, so that planners can better assess the country’s status in the attainment of MDGs.
During the May 18 meeting, the SDC approved the revisions of the Philippine Qualification Framework (PQF) and the Social Protection (SP) Operational Framework.
The PQF, formerly known as the Philippine National Qualifications Framework and originally approved in principle in 2004, was established to harmonize the country’s education system encompassing basic education, technical vocational education and training, and higher education.
The revised PQF outlines eight levels of qualifications needed from Grades 10-12 to vocational certificates to post-graduate degrees that guide institutions in allowing people to move readily between and across different education and training sectors as well as across labor markets.
The new framework specifies activities and timelines with respect to easy access of out-of-school youth, and other issues from DepEd, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC).
Meanwhile, the SP Operational Framework, which was originally approved by the NEDA-SDC in 2009, rationalizes the government’s social protection and welfare programs to eliminate duplication of strategies and target beneficiaries.
The enhanced SP Operational Framework incorporates recommendations on the need to involve the youth sector and civil society, develop a tracking system, and find alternative mechanisms for indigenous peoples’ concerns.
Meanwhile, the special SDC meeting on June 14 was attended by Health Secretary Enrique Ona, Education Secretary Armin Luistro, and Social Welfare and Development Secretary Corazon Juliano-Soliman, as well as other representatives from other government agencies.
The SDC, chaired by the Secretary of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and co-chaired by the Socioeconomic Planning Secretary, provides policy advice to the President on matters concerning education, manpower, health and nutrition, housing, and the delivery of other social services.
MR No. 2012-046
28 June 2012
