SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian has welcomed the allocation of P80 million in the General Appropriations Act for child development workers (CDWs) scholarship program.
Gatchalian said the funding will help CDWs enhance their educational qualifications and professional skills.
“By allocating funds for scholarships aimed at child development workers, we will facilitate their upskilling and reskilling. This initiative represents a significant step toward empowering our CDWs to effectively fulfill their responsibilities,” said Gatchalian, co-chairperson of the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM II).
At present, there are only 11,414 out of approximately 68,080 CDWs in the Philippines who have completed secondary education.
The scholarship program, developed in collaboration with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), is expected to assist around 2,854 CDWs in obtaining a National Certificate (NC) III in early childhood education.
This initiative is aligned with the Early Childhood Care and Development Alignment Act (Senate Bill No. 2575), which mandates that CDWs should undergo “upskilling and reskilling” training.
The measure addresses a significant workforce gap whereby the country requires an additional 161,143 CDWs to adequately support 4.6 million children aged three to four.
