President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo orders for the streamlining of the country’s educational system to enhance its quality and with less number of school dropouts. The President made this statement during the First Biennial Education Congress (FBEC) at the Tent City of the Manila Hotel yesterday. The objective of the educational congress is to assess Philippine education for the purpose of enhancing its quality and relevance

During the opening of the educational congress, the Presidential Task Force on Education (PTFE) presented its Progress Report on its education studies and recommendation and consulted with the attending stakeholders on issues and concerns affecting Philippine education. The PTFE is expected to submit the appropriate action plans on the country’s educational system to President Arroyo. PTFE member Dr. Emmanuel Angeles considers the educational congress as a "turning point in Philippine education, a meaningful, tangible testament of our common desire to improve and update the country’s educational

Presidential Assistant for Education Mona Valisno said that," the President’s commitment to improving the educational system gave rise to the administration’s "main education highway" whose main goal is to contain each student at all levels (basic, secondary and tertiary) in the highway; catch them, and provide them with relevant educational interventions lest they drop out; put them back in the highway; and keep them on the right track."

President Arroyo said that even before she could read the United Nations Millennium Development Goals - one of which is to achieve universal primary education by 2015- "we have already internalized that goal." She also paid tribute to the teachers who attended the summit, voicing her "special, special welcome to our teachers because when you think of education, you think of teachers"

Since 2001 up to 2007, some 65,000 new teachers were hired and had been trained in Math and ScienceThe President has also set aside P1 billion for the in-service training of teachers for this year.

"Teachers are backbone of our educational system. Without these selfless men and women, our children would fall short of our dreams and aspirations. We are deeply indebted to the hard work and dedication of all our teachers. Their work is noble and patriotic. They deserve the praise and respect of every Filipino," the President said.

"Teachers above all, but also every participant here is a stakeholder in the national effort to fight poverty by working towards a relevant and high-quality educational system. Labanan ang kahirapan. Isulong ang karunungan," the President concluded.