DOF backs DepEd’s call for World Bank apology over recent report

The Department of Finance (DOF) on Thursday backed the call of the Department of Education (DepEd) for the World Bank to apologize for the alleged insults to the Philippines over what it called outdated data.

In a statement, the DOF said Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III wrote a letter to World Bank Group President David Malpass, claiming that the multilateral lender failed to follow the standard procedure of consulting DepEd officials about its findings.

Dominguez in his letter claimed that the recent World Bank report “does not reflect current realities” and “has the effect of misleading the public and causing undue reputational risk to the Philippine education sector.”

To recall, the DepEd on Monday demanded a public apology from the World Bank, after its report indicated that over 80% of Filipino students do not know what they should know in school.

“We would like the public to be aware of this and since the country was insulted [and] was shamed, we expect and look forward to a public apology,” Education Secretary Leonor Briones said.

GMA News Online has reached out to the World Bank for comment on the matter, but no response has been received as of this posting.

‘Already addressed’

In the DOF statement, Dominguez claimed the findings have been already addressed by the DepEd and the Philippines’ development partners, with the country considering two financing proposals from the World Bank to enhance teaching capacity and advance the Alternative Learning System (ALS).

“Thus, publishing the Report at present is quite curious as it does not reflect current realities and may be wrongfully used to tarnish the image of the DepEd and the entire National Government,” he said.

He was referring to the World Bank’s 2019 report “Improving Student Learning Outcomes and Well-Being in the Philippines: What Are International Assessments Telling Us?” published on its website on June 29, 2021.

Over a year into the quarantines imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Philippines education sector is still mostly under distance learning.

President Rodrigo Duterte in December approved the dry run in January 2021, but this was later recalled amid a new variant of COVID-19 reported.

Data from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) showed that there were some P6.487-billion unobligated funds out of the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act which expired on June 30.

The DepEd had the biggest amount of unobligated funds worth P1.744 billion, meant to cover the funding requirements for the implementation of digital education, information technology and digital infrastructure, and alternative modules.

The DepEd funds were also supposed to finance the Basic Education-Learning-Continuity Plan and to provide subsidies and allowances to qualified students. — RSJ, GMA News