Gov鈥檛 to fund 300 new daycare centers in underserved areas in the country
Pinoy children —GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Education (DepEd) and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) are set to fund the establishment of 300 child development centers in underserved municipalities in the country.
This is in line with the law that requires municipalities to have daycare centers. However, most failed to it due to the lack of funding.
“This first 300 will be very crucial, especially to the municipalities that don’t have child development centers. They’re fourth and fifth class municipalities that can’t fund these centers, so the national government stepped in,” Education Secretary Sonny Angara said in a press briefing on Thursday.
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He also emphasized the program’s role in addressing child food poverty.
“The feeding program of the DSWD is based in daycare centers. If the kids aren’t in daycare centers, they can’t be fed. We want to get more kids into these centers so that more children can benefit from the government’s feeding program,” he added.
With a funding of P1 billion, around 240 of the 300 daycare centers will be built in Visayas and Mindanao.
“Close to 240 in Visayas and Mindanao especially in target area like to BARMM, which is experiencing the highest levels of hunger in the country,” Angara highlighted.
Financial assistance will be provided to local governments to raise new daycare centers.
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund, 78 percent of children under five years old in the Philippines are not in child development centers.
