The obligation of the State in attending to the people’s right to education must cater both to its accessibility and the quality of education received so that child learners, in particular, can be productive members of the society and ultimately participate in nation-building.

Thus, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) lauds the Department of Education (DepED)’s issuance of DepEd Order No. 003, s.2021 which created the Child Protection Unit (CPU) and Child Rights in Education Desk (CREDe) in the said department.

CHR welcomes the said issuance as CPU and CREDe are steps toward the right direction in ensuring accessible and quality basic education for every child that is also free from abuse, violence, neglect, and other harms that impinge on the full realisation of rights enshrined in the 1987 Philippine Constitution and the Convention on the Rights of the Child among others.

Similarly, CHR commends the recent order from the DepEd to adopt a rights-based education (RBE) framework in Philippine basic education as embodied in DepEd Order No 31, s.2022—a framework developed by CREDe.

DepEd’s RBE Framework—which comprises three dimensions: the right to access education, right to quality education, and the right to respect and well-being in the learning environment—recognises that children are rights-holders who are active participants in their education and development. Duty-bearers then, such as the State and its agencies, shall correspondingly uphold these education rights as a matter of legal obligation.

According to the policy, “education is not merely a matter of addressing needs through the provision of goods and services as a matter of preference, charity, or benevolence.” The Education department, therefore, must take on an active role to satisfy the standards of a child-centered, quality learning system.

RBE-DepEd’s experiential components instill among the children their intrinsic human rights: learning as a right, learning about rights, and learning through rights. Fostering a generation of children cognizant of their dignity and rights creates a future where citizens advocate for their own and other people’s rights.

As DepEd begins the implementation of the child rights policy in its offices, public schools, and community learning centers, CHR extends its full support to this initiative.

CHR believes that the realization of an inclusive, equitable, and quality education for every Filipino child is a shared responsibility. We call on our leaders to be resolute in empowering and upholding the fundamental rights and individual freedoms of Filipinos, starting with education as the gateway for the exercise of all other human rights.

Let us insist on making true the statement that education is, indeed, the great social equalizer. ####