Realignment of DEPED confidential budget urged
THE P150 million confidential funds of the Department of Education (DEPED) should be realigned to other programs of the department.
This is according to Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas as she cited the need to address the high learning poverty rate and literacy problem.
A World Bank (WB) 2021 report revealed that 90 percent of 10-year-old Filipino children faced difficulties in reading.
Despite President Marcos Jr.’s statement in his recent SONA that learning recovery will be at the forefront of the education agenda, the allocated budget for the National Learning Recovery Program is only P105 million, which is less than 1 percent of the total DepEd budget.
In comparison, the DEPED secretary’s P150 million confidential fund is significantly larger. This raises questions about whether learning recovery is truly a priority.
“Even the so-called National Learning Camp under the National Learning Recovery Program is voluntary and not funded by DEPED. We believe that the P150 million confidential funds of the DEPED secretary should be redirected to literacy programs, which would help more children learn to read, rather than being utilized for surveillance in schools,” Brosas said.
Gabriela Women’s group urged the DEPED to take immediate action in addressing the learning poverty crisis in the country by allocating sufficient funds and resources to improve literacy rates among Filipino children.
“The realignment of the P150 million confidential funds would be a step towards achieving this goal,” she said.
