VP Sara says DepEd’s 2024 budget not enough to solve problems in basic education

Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte on Wednesday said the proposed  P758 billion budget of the Department of Education (DepEd) for fiscal year 2024 is not sufficient to cater to all the projects that would improve the country’s basic education.

Duterte made the remark during the House committee on appropriations’ hearing when asked by Albay Representative Edcel Lagman if the agency’s budget under the 2024 National Expenditure Program (NEP) is inadequate to respond to its priority projects and programs.

“Yes, there is not enough budget to address all the projects and the programs the Department of Education wants to implement to improve basic education in our country,” the Education chief said.

DepEd, including its attached agencies, is seeking a P758.6 billion budget for 2024. This is 5.1% higher than the agency’s budget for this year.

The 1987 Constitution provides that “the State shall assign the highest budgetary priority to education.”

Lagman then asked what would be the adequate appropriation for DepEd for next year.

“For the next fiscal year, we requested approximately P900 billion for the budget of the Department of Education. We were approved approximately 700 billion in the National Expenditure Program,” Duterte answered.

She, meanwhile, acknowledged the budget insufficiency across all agencies, particularly in the Department of Health (DOH) and Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

She said that DepEd is thus pursuing two tracks to solve the problems in basic education—building more classrooms and hiring more teachers, and institutionalizing the blended learning program.

“We intend to address the congestion in the classrooms, the lacking of classrooms, and the shortage of teachers by levering technology and using the asynchronous and synchronous styles of delivery in teaching,” Duterte said.

“We are trying to innovate in coming up with solutions, considering that we recognize the insufficiency of budgets across all departments,” she added.

The School Year 2023-2024 officially opened in all public schools nationwide on Tuesday, August 29.

However, one evident problem seen in some schools is the shortage in classrooms and other school facilities, including tables and chairs.

DepEd even admitted that there are schools that still suffer from shortage of teachers, but some schools also have more than enough teachers.—AOL, GMA Integrated News