President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has given his approval to the Project for Learning Upgrade Support and Decentralization (PLUS‑D), a major six-year reform initiative by the Department of Education (DepEd) supported by the World Bank and local funding.
The program will receive about ₱34.79 billion (US $600 million) in World Bank financing and a ₱3.47 billion (US $60 million) Philippine government counterpart.
PLUS-D aims to close pandemic-era learning gaps and decentralise decision-making in schools by allowing regional offices and individual schools more autonomy in choosing and implementing strategies tailored to their contexts.
Key components include:
- Targeting around 21.2 million learners from Kindergarten to Grade 10 across the Philippines.
- Channeling funds and technical support directly to regional education offices and schools deemed “ready” in terms of governance and financial management.
- Empowering schools showing strong improvements with additional funding and recognition under a performance-based accountability scheme.
Education Secretary Sonny Angara called the initiative a “major shift” from centralised control toward trusting local leadership to act on the needs of learners.