Professional Documents
Culture Documents
2011 DepEd Budget Briefer
2011 DepEd Budget Briefer
2011 DepEd Budget Briefer
- All Filipino adults (i.e. aged 25 above) should be made functionally literate
- All children aged six (6) should be in school and prepared to achieve the
required competencies for Grades 1 to 3 instruction
- All children aged six to fifteen (6-15) should complete elementary and high
school with satisfactory achievement levels at every grade/year.
- The government together with the civil society, media, business, and other
institutions and organizations should be committed to attaining basic
education competencies for all.
As table 1 shows, while the enrollment rate has increased in 2009, the
dropout rate has not decreased the same year. The low completion rate
also indicates that a considerable number of enrollees are unable to finish
schooling. Both dropout and completion rate therefore cancel out whatever “good”
the slight increase in enrolment rate has.
The United Nations also underscores that the national average of the enrolment rate
should not make us lose sight of the fact that poorer areas in the country, especially
in Mindanao, have a low enrolment rate. In Sulu, for instance, only 62% of the children
are enrolled in public elementary schools.
Moreover, the gross enrollment rate (i.e. the total number of enrollees regardless of age)
and participation rate (i.e. the total number of enrollees based on official school age) in
elementary are not carried over in the high school level. This goes to show that a
considerable number of students in elementary are unable to continue to high
school.
Table 3. Quality
INDICATOR ELEMENTARY SECONDARY
SY 2008-2009 SY 2009- SY 2008-2009 SY 2009-2010
2010
1. National Achievement Test (Mean Percentage Score)
Public and Private 65.55% 68.01% 46.71% 45.56%
Public Only 66.33% 69.21% 47.40% 46.38%
Private Only 52.47% 44.17% 42.59%
2. School Readiness Assessment Results, % Gr. Assessed (Public)
Pre-Assessment
Ready 36.00% 40.00%
Not Ready 64.00% 60.00%
Post-Assessment
Ready 69.00% 81.00%
Not Ready 31.00% 19.00%
4 Basic Ed Budget Briefer
President Aquino himself admits that Philippine basic education is in crisis. Yet
doubt is cast on his lack of commitment to alleviate the salient manifestations of
this crisis. Based on its pronouncements and set targets for 2011, the Aquino
gov’t does not intend to sufficiently address the existing shortages in
5 Basic Ed Budget Briefer
basic education. Former Education Undersecretary Miguel “Mike” Luz, one of the
education advisers of Aquino, puts it thus: spending money on shortages is
“throwing money into the problem.”
The DepEd is the top department to receive the highest budget allocation. It is
followed by DPWH (P110.6 B), DND (P104.7 B), DILG (P88.2 B), DA (P37.7 B) and
DSWD (P34.3 B).1
Based on the P207.27 billion DepEd budget and the total number of school-age
population (22.71 million, age 6-15), the government spending to basic
education per student per day, in real value, is P24.97.2 On the other hand,
the per capita per day spending, also in real value, is P5.79.3
Out of the P7.69 trillion gross domestic product (2009), only 22.42% of that amount
is allotted for the total proposed national government spending for 2011 (P1.65
trillion).4 The basic education sector will get a mere 2.69% (P207 billion)
share of the total GDP. Adding to this the share of tertiary education will make it
a total of 3.0%, less than half of the 6% education budget recommended by
UNESCO (P461 billion). The World Bank, on the other hand, recommends 20% as the
average share of education budget in developing countries. 20% of the P1.645
trillion budget is P329 B.
1
Source: DBM budget proposal briefer, 2010
2
DepEd budget (real value) = total budget (P207 B)*100/CPI (2010=100) = 207
DepEd budget per school-age child per day (real value) = basic ed budget (real value)*1000/ total
school-age population (22.71 million, age 6-15)
3
DepEd budget per capita per day = basic ed budget (real value)*1000/ total population (97.98
million as of 2010)
4
Source: Table B.7 of the 2011 Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing (BESF). Note: 2009
GDP was used since the 2010 GDP will only be completed at the end of the year.
6 Basic Ed Budget Briefer
HS 43,592
P1.15 billion Total: 13,225,527 1,168,608 12,056,919
Furniture/ Elem 10,272,007
School Seats HS 2,946,565
P1.78 Total: 95,557,887 32,325,782 63,232,105
Textbooks billion
At first glance, the P32 billion increase in DepEd’s budget would appear substantial
in alleviating the woes of the Basic Education sector. Upon closer look, however, the
increase in DepEd’s budget is grossly insufficient in addressing the
shortages in Basic Ed as shown in Table 4. Former DepEd secretary Mona Valisno
has stated that the current DepEd budget is P100 billion short of the amount
needed to considerably lessen the shortages.
Also, note that the scholarship program is for the Government Assistance to
Students and Teacher of Private Education (GASTPE), which means that only
students from private schools will be given this assistance. Be that as it may, the
amount in nominal value is only P5830 (= P5.83 billion/1 M) per scholar, still
insufficient to fully finance the tuition in private high schools.
While it is true that a number of students enrolled in private schools belong to poor
families, the fact remains that majority of the student population is enrolled in
public schools, also belonging to poor, even poorer, families. Although tuition is free
in public schools, other school-related costs include food, transportation, school
materials, school/miscellaneous fees, etc.
Based on the Aquino gov’t’s 2011 target (Table4), the shortages in 2011 would
remain as it is now -- dismal. What the poor target of Aquino gov’t means for the
14.23 million students enrolled in basic education is they would still have to make
do with crowded classrooms and makeshift seats; teachers would still have to juggle
numerous classes, some would even have to handle two or more classes at the
same time; the 7.93 million OSY would have to wait for their chance to study as the
1 million scholarships are clearly insufficient even for a band-aid solution. The
Aquino gov’t considers addressing the shortages low priority, as if an
education system can properly function with a skimpy number of the
necessary infrastructures and materials.
Indeed, the education sector is in dire need of more budget. To this, the Aquino
gov’t replies: we do not have enough funds. But, is this really the case? A quick
detour to the proposed budgetary allotment to the military and foreign debt is
necessary to reject this claim.
7 Basic Ed Budget Briefer
B. Wrong Priorities
PhP billion
National Government Expenditure, 2011e (PhP billion)
900
823.3
800
700
600
500
400
300 271.7
200
77.5
100 38.6
5.7
0
Education Health Housing Defense Debt service
Source: IBON, (interest &
2010 principal)
The huge budgetary increase of debt servicing and defense cannot but appear as a
clear case of the Aqunio gov’t’s wrong priority setting. The 2011 budget for the
interest and principal amount of the country’s foreign debt is 21 times
larger than the budget for health while the budget for defense is 2 times
larger. The budget for social services such as education, health and housing has
either decreased or remained deficient.
The P551.6 billion difference between the budget proposal for debt
servicing and education is incontestable evidence that the Aquino gov’t
has funds to possibly allocate to basic social services, only if it sets its
priorities straight. What is more, the amount is enough to also increase the
measly budget of other social services such as health and housing, to name but two.
To illustrate how the amount could benefit the basic education sector, let us refer to
table 5 below.
Rechanneling part of debt servicing budget to other basic social services will also
be considerably enough to fill in the needs of the latter. Lacking in political
conscientiousness, the Aquino gov’t treats the primacy of debt servicing as an
unquestioned truth. If the Aquino gov’t would only remain faithful to its supposed
commitment to making education the central strategy to empower the youth,
rechanneling part of the debt servicing budget to education and other
basic social services is a modest, doable act.
However, instead of decisively addressing the urgent needs of Basic Ed the Aquino
gov’t plans to…extend the number of schooling to two years! Much opposition to
the K-12 framework (kindergarten to grade 12) has been voiced by students,
parents, teachers, educators and legislators. The terms are well-known: two years is
added burden to students and parents.
The Aquino gov’t has yet to present a convincing programme to remedy the existing
shortages of the education sector. Without first addressing these problems, the K-12
proposal would inevitably appear as a giant step in the wrong direction. How can
basic education qualitatively function in the context of the dire shortages? What
benefit would K-12 bring if students, in the first place, have no sufficient classrooms
to study in, chairs to seat on, teachers to learn from, and textbooks to read?
K-12 is also hinged on a blind premise which considers the 2 more years in schooling
as the key for students to undergo “quality” education. Students at present are
already having much difficulty finishing the 10-year cycle of basic education. In SY
2009-2010, 41.95% of students enrolled in public high schools failed to complete
their schooling while 54.40% of high-school-aged youth are out-of-school . It is not
because they are inherently lazy or lacking in determination as some commentators
naively suggest. How can students finish school if school-related necessities like
food, health, sufficient wage (of parents), transportation, housing… are not met?
Given the financial demands of education, two more years in basic education is an
added burden to poor families which comprise majority of the population.
The Aquino administration also cites as reason for K-12 the need for students to be
prepared for work and be globally competitive. What does becoming “globally
competitive” effectively mean in this light? It means producing a pliant work force to
fill in the global demand for semi-skilled and cheap labor. With the absence of
national industries and sufficient jobs, many are forced to work abroad. DepEd’s plan
to introduce vocational and technical courses in high school, using as argument the
so-called “fact” that students no longer want to finish college, is essentially an
endorsement for those students unable to enter college to make do with the voc-tech
training and become “for export” laborers. The inclusion of voc-tech training in high
school portends to the long-standing labor export policy which aims to swiftly
generate semi-skilled workers to be sent to countries in need of such.
accountable whoever was responsible to their occurrence. So far, the current DepEd has not
yet initiated an investigation to solve these corruption cases.
• Noodles scam
From 2004 to 2009, the feeding project of the DepEd had only one supplier - Jeverps
Manufacturing Corporation (Jeverps). In 2007, Jeverps was awarded the contract to supply
for DepEd’s “Fortified Instant Noodles with Fresh Eggs” and “Fortified Instant Noodles with
Fresh Eggs and Malunggay.” From 2004-2009, the total amount of DepEd’s partnership with
Jeverps is P695 million.
The agreements, especially in 2007 and 2009, were anomalous due to: 1) 100-gram pack
requirement for instant noodles is not in accord with standard local industry specifications
pegged at 55 grams. 2) Product did not contain “Fresh Eggs,” only egg powder. 3) The
pricing of one pack at P15, without freight, and P18, including freight, is grossly
disadvantageous to the government. Supermarket price is P5/pack, including freight, for a
55-g. pack. There is a computed difference of around P10/pack. 4) Price of P22 for one pack
of noodles has an P11 difference with supermarket price of instant noodles. If malunggay
powder was indeed added, that would amount to at most an additional P2/pack. 5) Jeverps
had only been the sole supplier/winning bidder for all bid/awards for feeding projects called
by DepEd from 2004-2009.
After being exposed, the anomalous contracts between DepEd and Jeverps have been
cancelled. Whatever happened to the P695 million remains a mystery.
• Textbooks scam
The contracts were anomalous because: 1) An advance actual payment of 90% of the
contract value was opened as letters of credit for Watana and Daewoo even before the
delivery to and acceptance by DEPED of the contracted textbooks, violating government
regulations prohibiting the advance payment of undelivered goods. It was later found that
the money used to fund the letters of credit are LGU funds and NOT government proceeds
from the WB loan. 2) the delivered books, especially Sibika 1-3, contained defects such as
factual errors, inverted and missing pages, mislabeling of textbooks, poor binding or
untrimmed pages, etc. 3)the unfair competition in the award of contracts under the
Department of Education’s textbook procurement program and possible. violation of
procurement laws.
This anomalous textbook deal was scrapped by Malacanang and DepEd in June 2007.
Whatever happened to the 90% advance of the actual payment? How will the current
DepEd ensure an honest procurement procedure this time around?
There was a discrepancy between the quoted price per piece of the item “Disposable Dental
Needles” of DepED and other companies. The range of the three companies' lowest-price
11 Basic Ed Budget Briefer
quotations is Php 2.80 to Php 4.75 while DepED's Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) set
theprice at Php 11.00 per piece.
The DepED's price for “500 set(s)” of Otoscopes was pegged at Php 1,00,000.00 or,
according to the calculated price per piece/item, Php 2,000.00/set. Meanwhile the quoted
price per piece of two companies were Php 120.00 and Php 135.00 only.
The number of citronella shampoo was changed from 150,000 sachets (December 5, 2007)
to 75,000 sachets (Augest 3, 2009). Despite the difference in number, the price of the
bundle remained P900,000. The price of each 10ml sachet was P12 each, almost 3 times
more expense than the P4.50 average sold in the market.
Definition of indicators:
Gross Enrollment Rate - The total enrolment in a given level of education, regardless of age.
Note:
The indicator is used to show the general level of participation in elementary and secondary education. It is used in place of the Net
Enrolment Ratio (NER) when data on enrolment by single year of age is not available.
Participation Rate/NER - The ratio of the enrolment for the age group corresponding to the official school age in
the elementary/secondary level to the population of the same age group in a given year. Also known as Net
Enrolment Ratio (NER)
Cohort Survival Rate - the percentage of enrollees at the beginning grade or year in a given school year who
reached the final grade or year of the elementary or secondary level.
Completion Rate - The percentage of first grade/year entrants in a level of education who complete/finish the
level in accordance with the required number of years of study
Dropout Rate - the percentage of pupils/students who leave school during the year for any reason as well as
those who complete the previous grade/year level but fail to enroll in the next grade/year level the following
school year to the total number of pupils/students enrolled during the previous school year
Mean Percentage Score (MPS) - indicates the ratio between the number of correctly answered items
and the total number of test questions or the percentage of correctly answered items in a test.