COA: DepEd’s textbook evaluation process ineffective vs errors

The Commission on Audit (COA) found defects in the textbook content evaluation process implemented by the Department of Education (DepEd) which made the project ineffective in eliminating errors in the books used in public schools.

In the 2006 audit of the DepEd operations, the COA found deficiencies in the four-level textbook evaluation process that include leniency in the allotment of allowable errors in a textbook and the seeming disregard for errors found in the books, which were not corrected.

“Deficiencies in the four-level textbook content evaluation process made it ineffective in enhancing the quality of textbook content. Moreover, IMCS (Instructional Materials Council Secretariat) was relatively lax in validating the results of content evaluation and ensuring that recommended revisions are effected, the DepEd-COA said in their audit report.

“More importantly, the evaluators’ findings were apparently set aside, since no revisions were made on the final copy,” COA said.

Exposes by educator Antonio Calipjo-Go in 2004 of various errors in the books used in public elementary and high schools had forced the DepEd to implement the four-level textbook evaluation process to prevent the procurement of defective books.

Errors in the school textbooks are still found despite the evaluation process.

COA said the textbook evaluation process is flawed because the evaluators hired by the DepEd were lax in assessing the errors found on the textbooks.

“All the aforementioned deficiencies and the flaws in the entire process render the entire system ineffective, thus rendering futile the efforts and the expenses of the department at improving the quality of textbook contents,” COA concluded in their review of the textbook evaluation process.