For the first time in history, state funding for education breached the P1-trillion mark.
Spread across different education agencies and institutions, P1.05 trillion was allocated to the sector in the 2025 General Appropriations Act “to boost growth and inclusion,” said Economic Planning and Development Secretary Arsenio Balisacan.
This coincides with more long-term changes to the education system promised by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in his 2024 State of the Nation Address. Four of these five promises target major changes in the basic education curriculum and long-term adoption of initially short-term programs.
Within a month of the 2024 SONA, Marcos greenlit the creation of a Cabinet cluster on education to facilitate better coordination among the Department of Education, the Commission on Higher Education and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.
This move was a recommendation made by the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM II), which was mandated since 2022 to create a “comprehensive national assessment and evaluation of the performance of the Philippine education sector.”
The commission is set to finish its assessment by the end of 2025 and produce a National Education and Workforce Development Plan to address long-standing issues in the country’s education system.
“[The president] would like us to fast-track some of the actions, dahil nakita niya ‘yung (because he saw the) urgency and it’s a very deep-seated problem,” said Education Secretary Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara.
Know the latest on Marcos’ education promises from the previous SONA:
