Gov't releases P1.15B for DepEd projects

MANILA, Philippines - As part of efforts to boost spending, the Aquino administration has released P1.15 billion to fund various projects of the Department of Education (DepEd).

The amount will cover the maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) and to procure various school supplies necessary in classroom teaching. The funding has been released directly to DepEd’s 16 regional units.

According to the Department of Budget and Management, P500 million will cover MOOE as well as to procure school supplies necessary in classroom teaching.

Meanwhile, the Budget department also released a total of P483.8 million to fund teachers’ training, scholarship and fellowship grants, capacity building for non-teaching personnel, among other human resourced development activities.

The amount will specifically be used for the government’s National English Proficiency program and for Madrasah education.

The government also released P104 for the repair and rehabilitation of elementary and secondary school buildings in various locations.

 “P60 million was released to cover the acquisition of 52,630 armchairs and 1,169 teachers’ tables and chair will furnish 1,169 classrooms (725 for elementary and 444 for secondary) out of the 1,430 classrooms to be constructed from current year’s releases from the P1-billion DepEd School Building Program,” Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said.

Abad also said that of the P192-billion regular budget of DepEd for 2011, P171.2 billion have already been released by the DBM to the agency as of Sept. 30, 2011.

These efforts, Abad said, are part of the government’s program to strengthen basic education as a strategy in investing in government resources.