Key Education Priorities in SONA 2025

In his 2025 State of the Nation Address (SONA on July 28, 2025), President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. highlighted multiple key developments on education—emphasizing access, quality, and teacher support across all levels. Here's a summary of his major points:

Key Education Priorities in SONA 2025

1. Expanding Access & Infrastructure

Allocated ₱1 billion to establish over 300 Barangay Child Development (Bulilit) Centers, prioritizing underserved areas to address longstanding daycare shortages.
Opened ~22,000 new classrooms over three years, with plans to build 40,000 more before the end of his administration—partnering with the private sector for funding.

2. Digitalization & Learning Recovery

Delivered laptops for every public school teacher, and distributed digital tools including smart TVs, free Wi‑Fi, and prepaid load via Bayanihan SIMs, preparing students to engage with modern digital learning.
Continued and expanded tutoring and remedial programs, including summer initiatives, aimed at supporting students who fell behind.

3. Teacher Support & Reform

Rolled out compensation for teaching overload and overtime starting this school year.
Eliminated nearly 100 non-teaching documents to ease administrative burdens.
Distributed ~60,000 teaching items and created jobs for licensed teachers.
Committed to transforming remaining paper-based teacher processes into digital formats.

4. Technical-vocational Integration

Expanded TESDA and TechVoc integration into senior high school, allowing students to specialize in areas such as bookkeeping, agribusiness, electrical works, or graphic design.

5. Higher Education Access & Scholarships

Announced an increase of 200,000+ new TESDA scholarships in 2024 alone.
Prioritized college placements for students from Listahanan and Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) families within the next three years.
Noted that over 2 million students now benefit annually from free public college, with 260,000 added under his term.
Announced a ₱60 billion allocation for free tuition and subsidies for public colleges and TechVoc in 2026.
Celebrated that the Philippines now ranks second in ASEAN for youth enrollment in college and technical-vocational training.

6. Recognition of Academic Excellence

Introduced Presidential Merit Scholarships for high school graduates achieving Highest Honors.

7. International Recognition & HEI Performance

Noted that 114 Philippine institutions (including 68 public schools) are now globally recognized, up from just 22 in 2022.

✅ Summary

President Marcos’s 2025 SONA aimed to strengthen education through massive infrastructure builds, digital modernization in classrooms, greater support and compensation for teachers, broad access to higher education via scholarships and TechVoc pathways, and elevating the international competitiveness of Philippine universities. His focus is on building equity, quality, and readiness for global integration—anchored around empowering both students and teachers.