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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 25) – The Department of Education (DepEd) said it takes around P40 billion per school year to be able to print self-study modules as the education sector shifts to its new normal.
During the Senate hearing on the department’s proposed 2021 budget, Senator Francis Pangilinan asked DepEd how much budget is needed to be able to produce printed modules.
Educational use c. Annalyn Sevilla said that, assuming the pandemic will continue, they will need P20 billion for the first two quarters of the next school year and P40 billion for their last two quarters and the first two quarters of the 2021-2022 school year.
Under DepEd’s proposed P605.74 billion budget, P15 billion was allocated for this purpose, with another P5 billion under unscheduled funds.
The department added that since the school year was only rescheduled from August to October, there were already printed modules valid for one to two weeks that were already distributed to students.
However, the Sec of Education. Leonor Briones said they intend to rationalize this to gradually decrease reliance on printed modules, despite being the preferred mode of learning for students and parents.
“Little by little we are going to face that because, apart from the horrible impact on the environment, baka (maybe) we will have books but not trees. It is more expensive to produce printed material than to broadcast it on radio, television or other means,” She explained .
The health crisis led to the implementation of alternative learning modes to end the usual face-to-face setup. The school year for basic education students will resume on October 5, after it was transferred from August 24 due to President Rodrigo Duterte’s order for a six-week postponement due to the pandemic.
Meanwhile, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian questioned DepEd’s zero allocation for special education program (SPED) even though the country has about 439,000 SPED students.
Based on the department’s 2021 budget, SPED’s budget was totally reduced from a P300 million budget in 2020.
Seville explained that the budget was used for the government’s response to COVID-19, so they were unable to use it this year as well. Briones also assured that schools have funds to cover SPED students.
However, Gatchalian appealed to reactivate the budget that will be used only for these students since “it will be very difficult for them to fight for these funds” if they depend on regular funds from the schools.
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