President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has vowed to put a premium on education reforms to address challenges and build a more robust learning system.

In part 3 of the third episode of the BBM Podcast, Marcos expressed optimism that his vision for every Filipino family to have at least one member who graduates from college or a technical-vocational education and training course is “doable.”

“‘Pag hindi maganda ang training, hindi maganda ang edukasyon ng mga Pilipino, hindi naman sila makakapag-compete, hindi ba in the labor market? Wala rin silang — hindi rin nila — walang advantage lahat nung ating ginawa (If the training is not good, the education of Filipinos is not good, they will not be able to compete, right? They also have no advantage in all that we have done),” Marcos said.

“Kaya ang puno’t dulo talaga nila (So, their endgame is) education. Our greatest resource is our people. Our greatest resource is the human capital of the Philippines,” he added.

Marcos said education “will be the gauge of success of this administration.”

He added that he would spend his remaining years in office looking for ways to strengthen the education sector, stressing that human development is the “most important” thing for him.

The President vowed to exert all efforts to ensure that the Philippine workforce would earn appreciation and recognition even in host countries.

“You don’t have to look at figures. Just talk to foreigners where the [Filipinos] are in their country and what they think of Filipinos. And how highly they think of Filipinos. That’s all you need to hear. And what are we doing? We should not waste that,” Marcos said.

In his fourth State of the Nation Address delivered on July 28, Marcos said education would be his administration’s top priority, ensuring continued investments in reforms, infrastructure and support services.

He also vowed a PHP60-billion allocation for free public college education and tech-voc programs.

To date, more than two million students are benefitting from the government’s free higher education program each year.

Under the Marcos administration, an additional 260,000 youth gained access to the free college education program.

On the other hand, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority awarded over 200,000 additional scholarships in 2024 alone, enabling more to gain job-ready skills and training. (PNA)