Officials and practitioners from all over the UP system gathered at the Student Union Building in UP Diliman (UPD) for a two-day conference on the state and future of basic education in the University.

Suma’t Suri: UP Basic Education Summit 2024 had attendees from most basic education institutions in the UP system, namely UP Integrated School in UPD, UP Rural High School in UP Los Baños, UP High School Cebu in UP Cebu, and UP High School in UP Visayas in Iloilo.

Representatives from the UPD College of Home Economics Department of Family Life and Child Development and the UP Visayas Balay Balay Child Minding Center of the Gender and Development Program also attended.

Speaking at the summit, Faculty Regent Carl Marc Ramota said this is the first time faculty representatives from UP’s early childhood and basic education units have been gathered to a summit “that will focus on the issues, concerns, and even aspirations of rank-and-file educators” which he said need to be addressed.

“Hindi tumutugon o tumutugma iyong marami sa mga polisiya at proseso sa antas ng [UP] system at maging sa CU [constituent unit] sa tunay na sitwasyon at pangangailangan ng ating mga kaguruan sa basic education,” Ramota said.

Delivering the keynote speech was Ruby Anna Bernardo, union president of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers Partylist National Capital Region. Bernardo said the neoliberalism present in the country’s basic education system is one of its major ills.

She proposed seven solutions that would solve the ills of basic education in the country: Itaas ang sweldo ng mga guro at kawani, dagdag at mas maayos na benepisyo ng mga guro at kawani, punan ang matinding kakulangan upang maresolba ang krisis sa pagkatuto, ibasura ang Charter Change at tugunan ang mga pangangailangan sa edukasyon at isa pang serbisyong panlipunan, doblehin ang badyet sa edukasyon at gawing katumbas ng 6% ng gross domestic product, kilalanin at igalang ang karapatan sa pag-uunyon, at itaguyod ang makabayan, siyentipiko, progresibo, at libreng edukasyon.

Organized by the All UP Academic Employees Union (AUPAEU)-National, AUPAEU-Los Baños, and the Office of the Faculty Regent, the summit was held from Feb. 29 to March 1.