The Department of Education (DepEd) has welcomed the Senate’s approval of the agency’s over P629-billion budget for 2022.
Sen. Pia Cayetano, who fervently wished that the pilot face-to-face classes would be expanded, defended the proposed 2022 budget of the DepEd and its attached agencies.
“Children need to be in school. Our job is to make it as safe as possible and to be able to react depending on the situation,” Cayetano said during the marathon hybrid session on Monday.
DepEd, as an agency, is set to receive P629.8 billion from its proposed P17.02- trillion budget for next year, according to Undersecretary for Finance Annalyn Sevilla.
“Overall, we have a 6-percent increase compared to this year’s budget. The increase actually is more on the PS or the Personnel Services,” Sevilla said earlier.
DepEd’s 2022 National Expenditure Program (NEP) is composed of P513 billion for PS, P96.6 billion for maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE), and P19.7 billion for capital outlay.
There was a significant increase in budget allocation for its computerization program (DCP), which aims to provide relevant ICT packages and IT infrastructure in public schools, received P11.3 billion allocation for the 2022 NEP, approximately double the amount allocated in last year’s General Appropriations Act allocation.
Aside from DCP, Sevilla also shared that the Government Assistance and Subsidies (GAS), including the Senior High School voucher program, and funds for the Operation of Schools (MOOE) received higher funding for next year.
“These are the School MOOE or the budget that will go directly to our schools, and we thank the Department of Budget and Management for increasing the MOOE at the level of 9.41 percent for Senior High School, 7.5 percent for Junior High School, and 6.4 percent for our Elementary Schools,” she added.
The budget for New School Personnel Positions will also enjoy a 31-percent increase for 2022, as P20 billion has been allocated for additional 10,000 teaching items, while the Human Resource Development fund will receive P1.89 billion (+0.12 percent).
DepEd also appropriated P358 million for the newly created program called the Priority School Health Facilities in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, the department received lower allocations on the repair of school buildings (-78 percent), Gabaldon conservation and restoration (-75 percent), School-Based Feeding Program (-45 percent), acquisition of furniture (-39 percent), flexible learning options (-8.4 percent), and GAS for Private JHS (-5 percent).