The Literacy Coordinating Council is resolute in its mandate and commitment to achieving a universalized literacy in the Philippines. As part of the resolution’s mandatory provision, it is encouraged that the Literacy Coordinating Council through its Council Member Representatives, literacy stakeholders, as well as the concerned public to advocate and promote the utilization of the NLIS database and contribute as well to the provision of pertinent literacy data and information needed for its enhancement.
Through this digital literacy initiative, partnerships, and linkages between and among different literacy stakeholders can also be strengthened, which will result in improved literacy program interventions not only at the national but also down to the grassroots level.
For easy reference, digital copies of the LCC Resolution No. 2, s. 2021 & Infographics of the NLIS may be accessed and downloaded via.
The National Literacy Information System interface lodged at the LCC Website
The Literacy Coordinating Council (LCC) during its 147th Council meeting held on September 20, 2021, via Microsoft Teams officially launched the NLIS through the issuance of LCC Resolution No. 02, s. 2021, entitled “ADOPTION OF THE NATIONAL LITERACY INFORMATION SYSTEM DATABASE, INCLUDING ITS UTILIZATION, PUBLICATION, AND MAINTENANCE IN THE OFFICIAL LITERACY COORDINATING COUNCIL WEBSITE.” Department of Education (DepEd) Undersecretary and LCC chairperson Diosdado M. San Antonio presided over the approval of the resolution as part of the agenda of the LCC Meeting.
The said Resolution provides for the adoption of the National Literacy Information System (NLIS) database as the official and primary database management system administered by the Literacy Coordinating Council to support its literacy endeavors, as well as synchronize and strengthen policies and efforts toward the universalization of literacy in the country. This issuance also serves as a formal document and basis for the System’s promotion and dissemination to local government units (LGU), non-government organizations (NGO), as well as other concerned literacy stakeholders and partners.
One of LCC’s strategies in advocating a universalized literacy in the country is the utilization of digital platforms, through a continuous process of development and enhancement of a national inter-agency database that will not only address the gaps of service delivery, especially the literacy efforts and implementation of literacy programs and projects at the grassroots level but also disseminate a nationwide campaign for digital literacy, which will also complement efforts to provide opportunities for lifelong learning and 21st-century skills development among all Filipinos.
Formulating measures on the monitoring and evaluation of the literacy situation in the country, including the establishment and maintenance of a national data bank and information exchange and dissemination system to support literacy efforts at the national and local levels is one of the functions of the Council as provided for under RA 7165, as amended by RA 10122 and its Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR).
This is being accomplished through the development and maintenance of LCC’s National Literacy Information System. Pertinent data on literacy are gathered and organized through different NLIS modules, namely: Literacy Laws and Policies, Research on Literacy, Literacy Survey, Basic Education, National Literacy Conference, National Literacy Awards, Community-Based Literacy Programs, Literacy Partners, Best Practices in Literacy, Resources, and LCC Secretariat. This database serves as a digital resource platform especially developed to provide data and information which may be used by concerned national government agencies, LGUs, NGOs, and other relevant stakeholders in policy formulation and literacy program development and management.
The NLIS is a result of the collective efforts, commitment, and contribution of the Council representatives, TWG members, and the LCC Secretariat in the development of the database management system through various phases of conceptualization, system development, data population and update, system enhancement, user testing, and system validation. Ongoing initiatives are being done for the System’s maintenance continuous improvement.
The Literacy Coordinating Council is resolute in its mandate and commitment to achieving a universalized literacy in the Philippines. As part of the resolution’s mandatory provision, it is encouraged that the Literacy Coordinating Council through its Council Member Representatives, literacy stakeholders, as well as the concerned public to advocate and promote the utilization of the NLIS database and contribute as well to the provision of pertinent literacy data and information needed for its enhancement.
Through this digital literacy initiative, partnerships and linkages between and among different literacy stakeholders can also be strengthened, which will result in improved literacy program interventions not only at the national but also down to the grassroots level.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) concluded its series of webinars through a discussion on teaching, learning, and assessing 21st century skills in Thailand, which was held on October 8, 2021 via Zoom teleconference and broadcasted live via OECD Education and Skills Facebook page.
OECD Senior Analyst Stephan Vincent Lancrin discussed the main objective of their program, which is to bring projects and programs into scale, and eventually manage to change curriculum and practices at the system level, citing Thailand as an example.
Thailand Minister of Education Treenuch Thienthong delivered her welcome message, expressing her appreciation to OECD for inviting them to speak in their webinar. She highlighted the importance of not only learning from global perspective but also local experiences. Minister Thienthong mentioned a very challenging journey of Thailand due to COVID-19 with only limited natural resources.
Advisor on Competency-based Curriculum Dr. Sirikorn Maneerin discussed the timeline of how Thailand transformed into competency-based education in 2019. She mentioned Thailand’s efforts on National Education Reform plan. Dr. Maneerin recalled the strong demand of education reform in Thailand seven years ago, wherein important sets of education reform committee have been set up in the country. She also shared the six core competencies being implemented in Thailand curriculum—self-management, higher order thinking, communication, teamwork collaboration, civic literacy, and sustainable coexistence with nature and science.
Thailand Research Fund founding director Professor Vicharn Panich emphasized the significance of systemic research as it plays a vital role in the success of education. He also mentioned the Equitable Education Fund (EEF) in Thailand and its very strong information system, which works in many ways. Prof. Panich also added the important pilot projects on education system reforms supported by Thailand’s EEF.
Equitable Education Fund Deputy Managing Director Dr. Kraiyos Patrawart highlighted the importance of having strong evidence, knowledge-based reforms, as well as participation on international networking such as OECD. He also shared Thailand’s new approach to education system reform with multi-levels reform mechanisms. Dr. Patrawart shared Thailand’s national and area-based approach on education reforms, including partnerships with various Civil Society Organizations.
OECD Director for Education and Skills Andreas Schleicher discussed competence-based examples and how they differ per country. He also mentioned the challenges that may be encountered in piloting education reforms in various OECD countries.
The LCC Secretariat wishes to express its gratitude to OECD for engaging us on its series of webinars on education issues, systems, and reforms across the world. It inspired us more to explore and draw lessons from other countries and how they have moved from idea to implementation in fostering and assessing creativity and critical thinking, which may be applied in the education system in the Philippines.
The Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization, Regional Centre for STEM Education, with support from Chevron Corporation in partnerships with SEAMEO RECSAM, CPRN, KSP, and TEDC, continued spearheading the Lecture Series on Introduction to Program Effectiveness Research which aims to provide a broad overview of how to conduct rigorous program effective research in education. The third topic of the said series was entitled “Lecture 3: Estimating and Interpreting Treatment Effects” held on October 8, 2021 via Zoom. Hosted by Ms. Yaoowalak Jittakoat, the webinar commenced at 6:00 (GMT +7 Bangkok Time) and was concluded with an estimated total number of 300 participants globally.
Dr. Brian Rowan, Emeritus Professor of Education, Emeritus Research Professor at Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, served as the main speaker for the said event. On the third installment of the lecture series, he focused on how to estimate and interpret various types of program effects in order to examine the confirmation status of a given program logic model. The focal point of his discussion was the conceptual understanding of the overall topic rather than a statistical analysis.
During Dr. Rowan’s talk, he defined the different kinds of treatment effects discussed in the causal inference literature, specifically the: (a) the intent to treat (ITT) effect; (b) the effect of actually receiving treatment (TOT); (c) conditional average treatment effects (CATE); and (d) the average causal mediation effect (ACME). He emphasized that these different treatment effects can be used to examine the confirmation status of a program logic model. Moreover, he provided demonstrations of these treatment effects for deeper understanding of the participants.
Dr. Rowan recalled the program effectiveness research as “examining of the confirmation status of a program logic model, where the logic model consists of a set of hypotheses about how a service delivery model (the processes then affect a set of final program outcomes.” He also added that program logic model for an intervention, through professional learning communities (PLCs), is used to improve student learning. This model has three components, namely: 1) a service delivery model defining the “treatment” to be given to enrolled units; 2) an implementation model that describes the expected response as a result of the treatment; and 3) a set of final outcomes the program targets to achieve at the end of the intervention.
During the open forum, Dr. Rowan instilled to the attendees that “When you (attendees) conduct a research, you work extensively for the missing data. You can never force someone to comply with research protocols. There are many ways of performing statistical estimation among variables in light of missing data.”
He also affirmed that “Interventions can be unique… It is the uniqueness of the set of services you deliver compared to the ones being delivered in the normal world.” In line with Assumption vs. Sample of Population in research works, he stated that the former is usually a sample of population and there is a larger population that would have been (but they were not included.) If one has a population of everyone, the parameter is generated and not just an estimate.” He ended his talk by reminding everyone to keep on collecting (relative data) even in time of non-compliance of the group in order to accomplish the set outcomes of the chosen intervention.
The last topic for the lecture series will focus on “How to Report on Program Impacts” anticipated to happen on October 22. Meanwhile, the first two topics were entitled “Some Logical Underpinnings of Program Effectiveness Research” and “Research Designs to Create Counterfeits” conducted on August 27 and September 9, 2021, respectively.
The LCC Secretariat expresses its appreciation to the organizers for their invitation and facilitation of a comprehensive and rich lecture series on program effectiveness research. Convergence such as this brings together different literacy stakeholders and research enthusiasts which indicates call for an action. Through this, the importance of data-driven interventions and boosting of research activities in the local communities are instilled to everyone yielding to a better nation building through the power of literacy.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) organized another virtual discussion on the data-driven decisions in education and its lessons from Kazakhstan on October 7, 2021 via Zoom teleconference and broadcasted live via OECD Education and Skills Facebook page.
OECD Director for Education and Skills Andreas Schleicher explained the key role of Information Analytic Centre (IAC) in developing the education system through rigorous data collection, analysis, and implementation. He added that important data shared by the IAC has seen an evidence-based approach to policy making.
Kazakhstan Minister of Education and Science Askhat Aimagambetov shared their country’s participation in international large-scale assessments like Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). He also emphasized the importance of making an evidence-based decision in Kazakhstan, thus, the prioritization of education. He highlighted that OECD countries’ reviews and international assessments have played a major role in developing evidence-based policies in Kazakhstan, as it confirmed some assumptions, eliminated bias, and hidden problems. He mentioned introducing targeted policies and amending some legal documents. Minister Aimagambetov also shared their initiatives in education and its results. He also raised his concerns about using research studies for policy making as international studies can be perceived as some kind of competition in our society.
Kazakhstan Information Analytic Centre President Maina Tynybayeva explained the importance of having reliable data when it comes to decision making. She also shared the significance of having a national education database which can aggregate data on educational organizations and analyze the system in general. IAC President Tynybayeva hopes that the experience shared by speakers today will be useful to everyone across the world.
Nazarbayev University Dean of the Graduate School of Education Aida Sagintayeva mentioned the usefulness of data and reports from the Information Analytic Centre for their faculty and graduate courses. She also shared that they utilize these sources for education reforms and globalization of education. Professor Sagintayeva also mentioned their regular meetings with IAC experts to discuss all ongoing and new projects initiated by the center. She underscored the effectiveness of these reports in enhancing the quality of education across Kazakhstan.
The LCC Secretariat expresses its appreciation to OECD for continuously engaging us in this kind of discourse on education systems across the world. It helped us value the significance of taking an evidence-first approach when it comes to policy making, challenges we faced especially during the pandemic and our plans for the future.
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) organized another webinar discussion on whether socio-economically advantaged students were better equipped to deal with learning during COVID. It was held on October 4, 2021 via Zoom teleconference and broadcasted live via OECD Education and Skills Facebook page.
OECD Director for Education and Skills Andreas Schleicher discussed how the pandemic took a massive toll on education, explaining the rate of lost instruction days and the quality of learning outcomes around the world. Schleicher also showed the distance learning solutions schools have offered during 2020-2021, citing online meeting platforms as the main medium of learning.
Schleicher highlighted the countries’ efforts in ensuring the effectiveness of distance learning wherein providing subsidized devices, as well as providing flexible and self-paced platforms became their top priority. Some countries have also improved access to infrastructure for learners and remote areas, as well as supporting learners with disabilities. Other countries have encouraged interactions between teachers and their students and/or parents during school closures in 2020.
He also discussed students’ self-efficacy, learning goals and motivation, wherein more than 80% of students showed self-efficiency in attaining their learning goals. Schleicher shared a survey on students’ readiness to learn and reading performance.
OECD Paris Senior Analyst Miyako Ikeda explained the importance of trying and finding a way to overcome challenges instead of fearing failure which is applicable not just for children but for all ages.
During the open forum, Schleicher was asked about motivational methods in learning during the pandemic, where he emphasized that technology can make learning more engaging for students. He also explained some factors why technology is helpful in making learning more interactive.
Schleicher highlighted that technology will become better than humans at delivering quality education as we live now in the modern period and people are slowly adapting to new technologies.
The LCC Secretariat expresses its appreciation to the OECD organizers for engaging us in another thorough discussion tackling the issue of education. It helped us become more socially aware on how to prepare students despite the hardships of learning during the COVID-19 crisis.
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The World Vision Development Foundation, through the Education Network (E-Net) Philippines and Open Government Partnership CSO Education Cluster organized the Brigada Pagbasa Partners’ Convergence webinar, in coordination with the Department of Education External Partnerships Service on September 22, 2021 via Zoom teleconference and broadcasted simultaneously via DepEd Philippines and its partners’ Facebook pages.
The Brigada Pagbasa campaign aims to help Filipino children to become functionally literate and contributes to empowering parents, caregivers, community volunteers, and education stakeholders within the context of transparency and local accountability by creating a link between partners and vulnerable communities to support last-mile learners and ensure access to after-school structured literacy development programs.
World Vision Development Foundation Executive Director Rommel V. Fuerte delivered his welcome remarks, acknowledging the presence of DepEd Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones and Undersecretary Tonisito M. Umali, Esq., who will serve as keynote speakers in this webinar campaign. Director Fuerte shared the success of their Brigada Pagbasa partnerships, with companies, organizations, and individuals committed to improving the academic performance of Filipino children.
DepEd Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones congratulated World Vision Foundation and its partners for organizing the Brigada Pagbasa campaign, in relation to DepEd’s learning continuity program. She shared that the Department is holding on to its advocacy and commitment to providing quality basic education despite the lockdowns, cancellation of classes, and precautions undertaken due to COVID-19. The Secretary thanked the foundation for its initiatives in forming, leading, and conceptualizing the idea of Brigada Pagbasa. She emphasized that Brigada Pagbasa is a massive campaign that envisions bringing together experts, change-makers, policymakers, and stakeholders across local and international agencies and organizations to form collaborations, cooperation, and joint projects to address education-related challenges and contribute possible solutions.
Secretary Briones hoped for the success of the campaign and thanked those who believed in the Department and supported the idea and advocacy that learning must continue. She also added that this event aims to provide sharing of good practices and reiterated that everyone should strengthen their belief that there is good in continuing education despite the challenges.
DepEd Undersecretary for Legislative Affairs, External Partnerships and Project Management Service Tonisito M. C. Umali, Esq., talked about the increased enrollment rate for this school year, with over 28 million public and private school enrollees. He shared the challenges and struggles experienced not only by parents, teachers, and children but also by the Department. Usec. Umali also mentioned the recently approved pilot testing of face-to-face learning to over 120 public and private schools around the country. He emphasized that the number of approved schools for pilot testing is very low compared to around 60,000 total public and private schools in the Philippines.
Usec. Tonisito M. C. Umali reiterated the need for the Brigada Pagbasa campaign as most children face struggles in the blended learning modality being implemented in schools all over the country. He also pointed out that lack of gadgets and difficulties in connectivity results in lack of learning among Filipino children. Usec. Umali shared the importance of DepEd’s partnership with the World Vision Foundation in this campaign to ensure that children read and understand what they are reading.
E-Net Philippines President Flora C. Arellano extended her appreciation and gratitude to the Department of Education, through Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones and Usec. Tonisito M. C. Umali, and all their partners and stakeholders who helped in the Brigada Pagbasa movement. She also emphasized that National Literacy Month is a reminder that an important aspect of the right to education is literacy and basic education. Prof. Arellano also said that literacy makes it easier for individuals to find employment and to perform well in any undertakings.
The LCC and its Secretariat fully support the Brigada Pabasa program and commend its organizers and implementers, for this convergence is indeed a strategic move to collectively advocate universalization of literacy, especially to socially disadvantaged learners and adults in the country.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) organized a webinar discussion on the state of education around the world and the findings from its newly released Education at a Glance 2021 edition on September 21, 2021 via Zoom teleconference and broadcasted live via OECD Education and Skills Facebook page.
OECD Director for Education and Skills Andreas Schleicher presented the findings and key data from Education at a Glance 2021. The report is an authoritative source for information on the state of education around the world. Education at a Glance 2021 edition provides data on the structure, finances, and performance of education systems across OECD countries and partner economies.
During his presentation, Schleicher mentioned that education system across the world was disrupted during the pandemic. He reiterated that schools were closed for longer period of time in countries with lower education performance. Schleicher highlighted that students from lower socio-economic backgrounds are at higher risk of disengaging from remote learning during these trying times. He discussed the reasons why students are deterred from pursuing tertiary education, citing high tuition fee as the main cause. He also tackled inequality in work environment wherein he pointed out that having poor education amplifies risk in the labor market. He presented data on the secondary attainment across OECD countries, where majority of India’s young people did not finish high school compared to only few people in Korea.
Schleicher said that education matters a lot in employment but emphasized that a tertiary degree does not always lead to a job in migrants’ host country nor to higher earnings. One of the highlights of his discussion is his call in countries to invest on teachers and increase their salaries.
When asked about making teaching attractive regardless of salaries, Schleicher recommended trying opportunities for personal development, in the way, which they can fulfill their mission, as well as spending time with students out of the instructional settings and contributing to the profession, apart from providing good pay to them. He shared that most countries spent massive in education as they were coping with the COVID-19 pandemic.
The LCC Secretariat wishes to extend its appreciation to OECD for engaging us in this thorough discussion on education status around the world, which will be more helpful in our advocacy to universalize literacy and uphold quality education at the local context.
LCC Chairperson and DepEd Undersecretary for Curriculum and Instruction Dr. Diosdado San Antonio presiding over the 147th LCC Meeting held via Microsoft Teams
On September 20, 2021, during the conduct of the 147th LCC Meeting held via Microsoft (MS) Teams, the Literacy Coordinating Council (LCC) officially issued LCC Resolution No. 01, s. 2021, entitled “Adopting the Guidelines on the Foundational Framework and Analytic Scoring Rubric for Exemplary Community-Based Literacy Programs and Engagement Developed by The Literacy Coordinating Council for Application, Dissemination, and Implementation at the Local Level.” Department of Education (DepEd) Undersecretary Diosdado M. San Antonio, the LCC Chair presided over the approval of the Resolution, among other agenda items of the Council Meeting.
The said Resolution is a result of the completed research studies on literacy conducted by the LCC, through the Philippine Normal University. In order to translate the Framework and Analytic Scoring Rubric, or M&E Tool on Exemplary Community-Based Literacy Programs and Engagement into a policy, the Council has unanimously approved the issuance of the Resolution for national adoption and implementation.
Subsequent to this, a similar policy will also be issued by DepEd. The LCCS has already submitted the draft policy on its proposed national adoption of the Framework and M&E Tool through the issuance of a DepEd Order. This DepEd policy aims to provide guidance to all teachers implementing literacy programs at the community level and help ensure that the programs that they develop and manage are exemplary and at par with the standards set by the LCC. As of this writing, the DepEd Order is still awaiting approval.
Furthermore, a Memorandum Circular will also be issued by the Department of the Interior and Local Government in congruence to the provisions of the Resolution. This national-level issuance is expected to yield maximum participation and support from the Local Government Units (LGU) in the conduct of their self-implemented local literacy programs.
In partnership with E-Net Philippines, ongoing coordination with Nongovernment Organizations (NGO) who are into literacy advocacy is also being initiated by the Secretariat to ensure that other private organizations adopt the standards.
Conduct of capacity building activities to literacy program implementers from DepEd, LGUs, and NGOs relative to the utilization of the Framework and M&E Tool in the succeeding Fiscal Years will also be spearheaded by the Council. Prior to this, orientation workshops on the said topics were already conducted to LGUs, NGOs, and some DepEd teachers on April 29, May 5 and 17, 2021 via MS Teams, simultaneously livestreamed via DepEd and LCC’s FB Pages.
Aside from this, the LCCS will be collaborating with the Council members in advocating the adoption of the Resolution through the development of pertinent Information, Education and Communication (IEC) materials for use in their respective agencies. Meanwhile, the LCCS already prepared the infographics for the said Framework and M&E Tool which will be further promoted through LCC’s website and Facebook (FB) Page. The Secretariat will also closely coordinate with the DepEd’s Public Affairs Service for these materials to be featured in the Department’s digital and social media platforms.
The LCC hopes that this issuance would contribute to our efforts in achieving a zero illiterate Philippines.
