Gatchalian wants 2026 education budget at 4% of GDP

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Saturday said he is setting his sights on allocating a budget for education equivalent to 4% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) for fiscal year 2026, in a bid to address the education crisis and invest in the nation’s future.

“Pipilitin nating umabot o lumagpas ng 4% of our GDP ang budget ng edukasyon dahil malaki ang kailangang pondo para masolusyunan ang krisis sa edukasyon. Hindi ibig sabihin na isasantabi na ang ibang sektor. Bibigyan lang natin ng prayoridad ang edukasyon,” Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate Committee on Finance, said in a statement. 

(We will force the education budget to reach or exceed 4% of our GDP because a lot of funds are needed to solve the education crisis. This does not mean that other sectors will be set aside. We will just give priority to education.)

The senator emphasized that the 2026 budget will focus on “going back to the basics” by strengthening literacy and numeracy from Kindergarten to Grade 3. 

Gatchalian also highlighted the need to fund the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program and proposed the revival of the counterpart program, where the national government and local government units share the cost of classroom construction. 

The lawmaker further said that he wants the hiring of more teacher aides to free up teachers from administrative and other non-teaching tasks. —VAL, GMA Integrated News