Neda to push PHL MDGs on education, maternal health

THE Philippine government has vowed to step up efforts to achieve Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on basic education and maternal health by 2015.

The National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) said among the strategies being eyed are the immediate implementation of policies on improving access to and quality of basic education, government’s support for maternal and reproductive health, and intensified roll-out of the Conditional Cash-Transfer Program.

“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 in a statement.

In particular, Balisacan said the Neda’s Social Development Committee (SDC) approved 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 to 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.

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.

Balisacan has 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.

Citing latest statistics, the Socieonomic Planning secretary said that elementary and high-school participation rates as of school year 2010-11 were at 89.89 percent and 60.88 percent, respectively.

He also noted that as of 2006, maternal mortality per 100,000 live births was estimated at 162, which is far from the 2015 target of 52. –Jennifer A. Ng / Reporter, Businessmirror