MANILA, Philippines – The Departments of Education (DepEd), Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and the League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP), have signed a pact that provides DepEd and provincial governments are to share 50-50 in the costs of constructing public school buildings.
Education Secretary Armin Luistro, DBM and former DepEd Secretary Florencio Abad, and LPP president and Oriental Mindoro Governor Alfonso Umali Jr. signed the memorandum of agreement that will commit the DepEd and the provincial governors for a partnership in building more classrooms and school buildings to address the acute classroom shortage in public schools. Currently, classroom shortage in the country stands at over 152,000 on a single shift to meet the 1:45 ideal classroom-students ratio. Based on the MOA, the three LGU groups are expected to execute legal documents to vest DepEd with full ownership of the classrooms and the land on which they stand after completion of the classroom construction.
According to Luistro, the commitment of LPP, the LCP and the LMP gives DepEd more confidence that the classroom shortage will be addressed soon.
“Education being the great equalizer, this partnership will be the concrete embodiment and manifestation of democracy in action at the grassroots level. Kung maraming provincial, city at municipal governments ang lalahok sa programang ito ng bayanihan sa eskwelahan, malamang mabibigyang solusyon natin ang kakulangan sa silid-aralan sa lalong madaling panahon,” Luistro said.
While the MOA does not guarantee 100 percent participation of LGUs, it nevertheless gives DepEd a certain level of assurance that it can bridge the school building gap knowing that many LGUs have chosen education as their advocacy.
While DepEd budget allocation for 2011 increased by some 19 percent, it stressed that it could hardly keep pace with the resource requirements of at least one million new entrants to the public school system every year.
Making matters difficult for DepEd was the new batch of pupils in kindergarten which has become compulsory beginning school year 2011-2012.
By Rainier Allan Ronda
The Philippine Star; February 10, 2011