Speaking at the Provincewide Reading Seminar at Sarangani, Soccsksargen Region, on May 29, Ilocos Norte Governor Imee R. Marcos pegged the ages of zero to seven as the “golden age of learning” among children and expressed the need for more investments in education nationwide.

“There has been a failure to invest in people, even as we invest in bridges and infrastructure – surely, we must afford investment in our own children,” she said, “People cry at the high cost of education, but on the other hand, we should also measure the price of ignorance.”

She lauded teachers of the first through third grades as the “gatekeepers of learning… the ones who open the great wide world of reading and of education to our children.

“Somehow, we have forgotten them along the way, failed to give them recognition, support, and the budget even to make all our education efforts in the elementary level more inspirational, more visionary, and more inspiring.”

Still, she emphasized that “it takes an entire barangay to make a child read… it takes a family,” urging the importance and effectiveness of teacher home visits and education that goes hand-in-hand with social welfare and family life.

Governor Marcos suggested, among learning infrastructures, the setting up of speech labs in public schools as a worthy investment to address, upgrade, and standardize students’ oral communication skills early on.

She further encouraged teachers to “restore wonder in the lives of children and make them realize that in fact it is a wonderful world and they must read about it, discover, and explore.

“They must find themselves in the storied gifts of nature, of art, of culture, of science, and mathematics – that’s it! Teachers, bring wonder back to the readers and to the classroom.”