DepEd's budget blunders stir teachers' memories of pandemic hardships
MANILA, Philippines — Two teachers' groups are dismayed over what they see as the Department of Education's "big waste" of public funds after yesterday's budget briefing revealed that over 1.5 million DepEd goods have been stuck in warehouses since 2020.
This is after the House appropriations panel's 11-hour deliberation of DepEd's proposed 2025 budget on Monday, September 2, surfaced several issues, including the non-delivery of laptops that teachers "sorely needed" during the COVID-19 pandemic, said the president of the teachers' group Teacher's Dignity Coalition (TDC)
RELATED: 1.5 million DepEd laptops, items stuck in warehouses since 2020 – Angara
"Nakakalungkot na hindi natin ito nagamit noong time na napakalaki ng pangangailangan (It's sad that we couldn't use these when the need was so great)," TDC President Benjo Basas said in a TeleRadyo interview on Tuesday, September 3.
"Some materials can become obsolete very quickly, especially equipment like computers and laptops. This is even more true for modules, which, according to DepEd, include learning materials during the COVID-19 pandemic," Basas said in a mix of English and Filipino.
DepEd was led by former Secretary Leonor Briones from 2016 to 2022. She was replaced by Vice President Sara Duterte in 2022, who resigned this year. Current DepEd Secretary Sonny Angara assumed office on July 19.
In 2020, lockdowns induced by the COVID-19 pandemic forced public schools to shift to distance learning seemingly overnight. A survey conducted by DepEd prior to the opening of classes in 2020 showed that at least 13% or 90,000 out of 700,000 teachers who responded had no laptops or computers at home. Many were eventually forced to purchase their own equipment.
Basas noted that even if the learning modules are delivered now, these won't be useful in class as DepEd already has a new curriculum in place.
He added that because four years have passed since the laptops and other items were purchased, "many of these may never be used at all."
Digital devices such as laptops typically lose about 5% of their value each month, meaning they are commonly depreciated past their useful life after approximately three years, according to IT experts.
The teachers' group Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) also condemned DepEd's slow utilization of funds in procuring computer packages, describing it as an "outrageous moral failure" amid a widely acknowledged education crisis.
On Monday, September 2, lawmakers cited a Commission on Audit document that found DepEd under Duterte only spent P2.75 billion out of the P11 billion allocated for its computerization program in 2023.
In contrast, Rep. Stella Quimbo (Marikina City) pointed out DepEd's swift expenditure of three-quarters of its P150-million confidential fund within the same year, achieving an efficiency rate of 143%.
"The audit reports reveal that DepEd, under VP Sara's command, brazenly wasted public funds amid the worsening education crisis. This goes beyond disservice as teachers and learners suffer in a deplorable state," said ACT Chairperson Vladimer Quetua.
"Utilizing funds for the pressing needs of teachers and students moved at a tortoise's pace, but when it comes to siphoning off the confidential funds riddled with anomalies, VP Sara was sprinting like a hare," he added.
Quetua also noted it was disheartening to learn that millions of laptops and other equipment have been sitting unused in warehouses for four years, while teachers were reportedly forced to take out loans or use their own funds to purchase laptops to hold online classes during the pandemic.
Based on the 2023 data, DepEd estimates that there is only one computer for every 30 teachers nationwide. Meanwhile, the student-to-computer ratio is at 1:9.
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