THE past year was a watershed for the Department of Education. With a P1.01 trillion budget, it finished building the last-mile schools that the previous education secretary, Vice President Sara Duterte, failed to do. It released P19 billion to buy textbooks to arrest the slide in our students’ literacy. It hired more new teachers and has begun hiring guidance counselors to improve our students’ mental health.
“Last mile schools” are educational institutions in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas (GIDA) that lack resources and facilities for effective learning. These schools have inadequate classrooms, lack electricity and books. The Last Mile Schools program aims to build classrooms, install solar panels and ensure access to learning materials and teachers.
We could go on and on and cite the many bright and beautiful things that happened. But our happiness would be cut short by the announcement that the department’s budget would be smaller. It has been whittled down to P975.96 billion, over which Congress has faced withering criticism.
One such blast came from a civil society group, which urged lawmakers to reverse the cuts. Education-Network (E-Net) Philippines said, “We are concerned that programs intended for learners and communities already facing the greatest barriers are among those being reduced.” Funding for special needs education (SNED) will fall by 18.5 percent, from P1.043 billion in 2026 to P849.98 million in 2027.
Funds for indigenous peoples education were also slashed by more than half, from P154.436 million to P76.168 million. Moreover, funding for madrasah education decreased from P521.615 million to P504.282 million, while the allocation for the alternative learning system (ALS) was reduced from P897 million to P722 million. The indigenous peoples and the poor are left holding a bag full of holes.
The budgets for Last Mile and GIDA schools were also cut from P3 billion to P1.91 billion — a 36.3 percent reduction, it also said. These budget cuts will just build more walls to scale for our out-of-school children and youth, as well as adults who had dropped out of school.
E-Net calls for P5 billion for ALS to reach one million learners, together with stronger support for flexible learning options, working adults, Community Learning Centers (CLCs), and recognition of prior learning. It also wants another P5 billion for Last Mile and GIDA schools for classrooms, internet connectivity, learning resources and equipment, and teacher and personnel deployment. We echo their calls to level the playing field.
Moreover, the P3-billion DepEd voucher cut may reduce student beneficiaries, according to Secretary Juan Edgardo Angara. E-Net stressed that Last Mile Schools, CLCs and Inclusive Learning Resource Centers (ILRCs) must have clear, dedicated and trackable budget lines. They raised concerns over gaps in learner protection, mental health and learning recovery in the proposed budget.
The new budget does not have clear dedicated funding for responsive and preventive learner-protection programs, despite the continuing violence, bullying, cyberbullying and online sexual abuse or exploitation of children (OSAEC). There is also a need for functioning child protection committees, reporting, referral and case-management systems.
Moreover, the group sounded the alarm over the cut in the School-Based Feeding Program from P25.695 billion to P11.431 billion, which is more than half of its previous allocation. E-Net said an education budget cannot be called adequate if programs serving learners who face the greatest barriers are cut.
Meanwhile, E-Net welcomed the allocation for 1,800 School Counselor Associate I positions but said it is far below the scale of need across the public school system. “There are no dedicated program support funds for regional offices, schools division offices and schools implementing the school mental health program,” it further said. School personnel must be supported by resources for counseling, psychosocial support, prevention, referral and capacity-building. The group likewise flagged that there are no new teaching items, administrative officer positions or school principal positions as well as zero allocation for the ARAL tutorial program.
The group called on the Congress to fund teacher welfare and Magna Carta benefits, including the special hardship allowance, fair and timely compensation for teaching overload or overtime pay, mental health and psychosocial support, transfer allowances for reassigned teachers, and deployment and relocation support for personnel serving in Last Mile and GIDA schools.
So, when crunching the numbers, our congressmen reduced the budget for children with special needs, the out-of-school youth, the Muslim youth in their madrasahs, the poor youth in the far-flung schools, the malnourished youth, those who need tutorials and those with mental-health issues.
It sounds like a ticking bomb.
