Let’s zero in on the budget’s aspects of providing quality, accessible and relevant education.
Did you know that the net enrollment rate for elementary was 91.05 percent (baseline 2015); and the completion rate was 83.43percent? The Duterte administration targets that enrollment rate to 95percent, and the completion rate to 90 percent by 2022. For junior high school, the net enrollment rate was 68.15 percent (baseline 2015); and completion rate at 83.43 percent. The 2022 target is 75.44 percent for net enrollment rate and 78.48 percent for completion rate.
These are cold impersonal figures, but they represent real people, Filipino youth who deserve a fair chance to live better lives, to be more employable and, indeed, to eventually support the economic growth of the country. As the Department of Budget and Management says, “Education is the ‘great equalizer.’ It can help fight poverty and even raise a person’s income for every additional year of schooling.”
So, what’s the budget going to do? In 2018, P19.4 billion will be applied to fund 21 million textbooks; 3,183 sets of science and mathematics equipment; 22,883 packages for the computerization program; and 4,600 sets of technical-vocational equipment.
This year 81,100 additional teaching positions will be created, plus 140 more nonteaching positions. This will take P23 billion to fund. And P126 billion is appropriated for the construction of 47,000 classrooms and 12,037 computer, technical-vocational and science laboratories. The funding includes the repair/rehabilitation of 18,000 classrooms and the purchase of 84,781 sets of school seats.
Too many details for a reader-in-a-hurry? Stay on, if you’ve read this far. The government also provides P5.3 billion to implement its school-based feeding program. This will benefit 1,823,443 severely wasted and wasted students (those with low weights compared to their height), plus 631,334 kindergarten students in priority provinces.
Perhaps, unknown to many (me included), there is a financial-assistance program by the government extended to students and teachers in private schools and non-Department of Education public schools, “to foster the complementarity between public and private education.” This government assistance and subsidies will benefit 2,849,198 students and 35,945 teachers participating in the Teacher Salary Subsidy Program. A good sum of P39.3 billion is provided for this program. Yes, P39.3 billion. That’s larger than the 2018 appropriation for the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), which is P13.5 billion.
There is a reason for details. For spending accountability, there is a need to be specific, matching money spent against deliverables. And identifying number of beneficiaries tells us that some serious studies have preceded the budget proposals. (I do hope I’m correct.)
To end this conversation, just a few additional details. There are student financial-assistance programs for which P7.1 billion have been appropriated to benefit 550,696 students. And separately, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST)-Science Education Institute is given P3.6 billion for scholarships to benefit 28,414 beneficiaries.
The government says it’s all about boosting productivity and competitiveness. I say it’s more than that. It’s about total human development.