P309 billion set aside for DepEd in 2014 – Budget department

Published January 27, 2014 10:22pm

The Department of Education will get P309.43 billion under the social services budget of the General Appropriations Act of 2014, the Budget department said in an e-mailed statement Monday.

Social services represents 37.2 percent or P841.8-billion of the total P2.265-trillion national budget for the year, which focuses on improvement of public education, health care, and other anti-poverty services.

Of the total allocation for social services, the Department of Education (DepEd) will have a budget of P309.43 billion, the biggest budget among all national government agencies this year.

“A considerable portion of the 2014 budget will help ensure the continued improvement of our public education system," Budget Secretary Florencio Abad was quoted as saying.

"Last year, we were successful in narrowing down most of our educational requirement gaps, and we're even more determined now to address the remaining deficiencies completely,” he added.

Major spending under DepEd include:

P44.6 billion for the construction, repair and rehabilitation of at least 43,000 kindergarten, elementary and secondary school buildings nationwide
P1.7 billion for the procurement of over 42 million learning modules and teaching guides to support of the K-12 Program
P7.45 billion as financial assistance to in-need students, through Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (GASTPE) program
P8.56 billion to hire around 34,700 new teaching and non-teaching positions to help help bring the teacher-to-pupil ratio to an ideal 1:45

The DepEd will also allocate P1 billion for school-based management installation support, P1.7 billion for the Alternative Delivery Mode Project (e-IMPACT) and the Abot-Alam Program, P535 million for the Basic Education Madrasah Program.

It will also set aside P655 million for Quick Response Funds for the repair, rehabilitation, renovation or replacement of school buildings and essential teaching aids and materials.

Abad said, through the expanded Conditional Cash Transfer program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, a total of 4.3 million student beneficiaries will be sufficiently covered to allow them to graduate from high school.

Other education targets for the year include the procurement of additional textbooks and workbooks to attain the ideal 1:1 student per textbook ratio.

“We remain mindful of the potential challenges that may hamper our progress this year, especially with respect to providing quality education to Filipino students. The 2014 National Budget considers these possible setbacks—such as typhoons and calamities—so that emergencies don't endanger our broader goal of establishing a robust public education system,” Abad added. — Danessa O. Rivera/JDS, GMA News

Tags: departmentofeducation, departmentofbudgetandmanagement, florencioabad