Miriam: P600M worth of books rendered obsolete by K-12

Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago has asked the Senate to probe the Department of Education’s alleged procurement of textbooks that have become obsolete because of the K to 12 program.

In Senate Resolution 1284, Santiago said the DepEd bought P608.7 million worth of textbooks for school year 2011-2012 under the old curriculum.

She quoted the Commission on Audit as saying that the delivered textbooks will eventually be regarded only as reference materials because they would no longer be responsive to the enhanced K to 12 program.

“The COA claimed that the textbooks were delivered only in school year 2012 - 2013 or at the onset of the implementation of the K to 12 curriculum…The COA claimed the DepEd’s lapses in planning and lack of foresight deprived the students their access to quality education, considering that it was already preparing the implementation of the K to 12 as early as 2010,” the resolution read.

It further stated the procurement and delayed delivery or distribution of textbooks resulting in unnecessary expenses brought indiscriminate wastage of government funds that would have been used in reference with the effort of DepEd to ensure adequacy of the learning resources in the implementation of the new learning system.

The resolution said the DepEd management told the COA that the textbooks in question were not obsolete since these were still responsive to many learning competencies under the K to 12 curriculum.

“Government funds for the welfare of the public should be cautiously spent in order to avoid unnecessary expenses and wastage of government funds. Resources for the K to 12 program should ensure a quality education for all,” Santiago said in the resolution. -NB, GMA News