MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Education (DepEd) said it requested for a 2023 budget of P848 billion to oversee the safe return of students to schools after two years of distance learning, but the amount was pared down by the Department of Budget Management (DBM).

DepEd spokesperson Michael Poa said during a joint press briefing with the Office of the Vice President on Thursday, August 4, that they have appealed the decision of the (DBM) to slash their proposal to P701 billion.

“We’re standing firm on our budget proposal kasi kailangan po natin ’yan (because we need that) so we’re making our arguments in the Congress when the time comes. But we’re also appealing to the DBM to allow us to have the entire P848 billion,” Poa said.

Aside from this, Poa said that DepEd led by Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte already requested an additional P16 billion to cover repairs and construction of classrooms, although he said that an additional P2.1 billion is still needed to repair classrooms damaged by the recent earthquake.

So far, the DepEd has identified 427 damaged schools during the magnitude 7 tremor that hit Northern Luzon last week. Despite this, Poa said that classes in earthquake-hit areas would still push through on August 22.

Poa added that DepEd was looking into providing temporary learning spaces and coordinating with local government units for vacant areas.

Why this matters

The original proposal of DepEd for 2023 was P217 billion more than its 2022 budget of P631.77 billion.

Advocates have called on the government to increase spending for the education sector, although it already receives the biggest chunk of the budget as mandated by the constitution.

“We are calling for the increase in budget for education, at least 6% of the GDP,” Philippine Business for Education executive director Love Basillote told Rappler in a previous interview. Currently, the Philippine government is only allotting 3% of its GDP for the education sector, lower than the global standard of 6%.

The clamor to raise the allocation for education also comes as the country deals with learning losses brought by disruption due to the pandemic. For two years, the country implemented distance education which has been perceived as ineffective.

The DepEd also said it was planning to hire more personnel to relieve teachers of administrative tasks, enabling them to focus on teaching. This scheme, of course, would entail additional funds.

– Rappler.com