MOSE, RUSSEL M.

MAED – Institutional Fiscal Management

LESSON 5: SOW
Choose at least (3) questions about Budget Support of Educational System in the Philippines that you want to
answer.

1. Elementary / Secondary
- Examine the approved 2024 national budget. Do you think the proposed budget for the education sector is
enough to address the current dilemmas? Support your answer.
The education sector receives the largest budget allocation in every budget deliberation since it is one
of the foundations of the country. As we all know, education sector has a budget amounting P924.7
billion including funds for the universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education program, textbooks and
feeding programs. DBM Sec. Amenah Pangandaman highlighted that higher provisions were made for
subsidies, training programs as well as learning infrastructure and resources following not only the
mandate of constitution but also the current administration. The DBM Secretary also said that of the
total amount, P758.6 billion was allotted for the Department of Education (DepEd), while P31.0
billion for the Commission on Higher Education (CHED). She further revealed that P15.2 billion had
been provided for the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and P105.6
billion for the 116 State Universities and Colleges (SUCs), among others. “Echoing the
pronouncement of our President, alongside the strengthening of our economy, we will also invest
heavily in human capital development through education, health, and social protection,” the Secretary
stressed. I think the proposed budget for the education sector is enough to address the current
dilemmas since they have plans and programs along the way on how to spend the allocated budget for
education sector. Some of their plans and projects presented are subsidies for students, upgrading
classroom facilities including those in the remote area and it will be upgraded via the Basic Education
Facilities (BEF) Program, learning tools and equipment’s just like textbooks and instructional kits
aligned with the new curriculum for Kinder and Grades 1, 4 and 7. "The education budget will
support DepEd’s MATATAG Agenda for Basic Education through the provision of higher allocations
for textbooks and other instructional materials amounting to Php 12.04 billion," the Budget Secretary
said. Another program of education sector is, focus on student’s nutrition to improved children’s
learning reception and capacity, and lastly is the Special programs for the employment of students to
equip the Filipino youth with the necessary experience for employment and offer them access to skills
training in accredited institutions, the Government Internship Program. With those plans and
programs of the education sector, I know that the budget allocated for the education sector is enough
since there is an allocated budget for these different programs that they will implement on 2024. I just
do hope and pray that this budget will be used properly in the programs that they presented because it
will help millions of students in attaining their dreams.
References:
 House of Representatives (congress.gov.ph)
 DBM: Education gets P924.7 billion in proposed 2024 national budget; Focused expenditure
on subsidies, skills development, facilities enhancement
2. National and Barangay High Schools
- Analyze the challenges and opportunities in budget support for national and barangay high schools in the
Philippines. Explore how the active engagement of local communities can bolster the efficacy of these
educational institutions.
National and barangay high schools may be differ in some areas but they are both facing so many
challenges. When we say national high schools, it is funded by the national government via General
Appropriations Act (GAA) while the barangay high schools in my own knowledge, this are schools
that are funded by the Local Government Unit. Overcrowded classrooms and lack of school desks
were the common problems reported on the first day, especially on the national high schools.
According to Basas (2015), the classroom shortage is a problem in a „normal‟ condition, it would be
worse in the disaster areas. Thus, the immediate construction of school buildings is very much needed.
Teachers and children in some schools will hold classes under the trees or in any available space,
 especially the schools which are not recipients of donations of temporary classrooms from
international nongovernment organizations. On the other hand, some barangay schools had the
problem on low enrolment of the students since some of them went to the national high schools. Both
of them has challenges that are facing but with the active engagement of the local communities, like
the Local Government Unit (LGU), the Parents and Teachers Association (PTA) and the stakeholders,
they are able to come up with the different projects for the betterment of the students since the budget
allocated for education sector for some instances was not enough. Based on my experience as an Job
Order Teacher in the barangay school, wherein their enrolment is around 70 pupils from grade 1 to
grade 6, the teachers are teaching on a multi grade set up, and for me it hard since we are catering two
grade levels. I asked the school head that time with this question “Why do the agency and the local
government unit itself does not hire teachers for this barangay school?” Well, the school head
answered that it is based on the enrolment of the school if they will be adding teachers and since the
enrolment is low, they need to cater the pupils in a multi grade set up. Well it is very challenging for
them, but for the betterment of the pupils they are sacrificing in this set up. I also observed that the
local communities are working hand in hand in the different projects of the school and it is one of the
best things that the government should do, since not all are able to send their children in private
school.
References:
 CONSTRAINTS AND ISSUES-7280.pdf (researchpublish.com)
3. Colleges and Universities
- Analyze the challenges related to student access and affordability in higher education institutions. How
can budget supports promote inclusivity and reduce financial barriers for these students?
“Education is one thing no one can take away from you” – Elin Nordegren and it is true, but some
students wasn’t able to pursue their studies in the higher education institutions because of the financial
matter. We all know that poverty is very crucial here in the Philippines especially to those families
that are minimum wage earner but despite of the poverty that we are facing, Pres. Rodrigo Roa
Duterte signed the Republic Act (RA) No. 10931, otherwise known as the Universal Access to Quality
Tertiary Education “it is an act promoting universal access to quality tertiary education by providing
free tuition fees in State Universities and Colleges, Local Universities and Colleges, and State-Run
Technical Vocational Institutions, establishing the Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES) and Student Loan
Program, strengthening the Unified Student Financial Assistance for Tertiary Education, and
appropriating fund therefore,”. There are allocated budget for subsidies consist of P51.1 billion for the
UAQTE Program and an additional P41.0 billion for Educational Assistance for the 2024 National
Budget that will help the students especially the poor but deserving one. I’ve witnessed some of my
classmates during my college years receiving those scholarships like the TES under the CHED
scholarship, and other scholarship programs by the government and non-government sector and I’m
able to see how my classmates benefited from this scholarship specially when we’ve faced the
COVID-19 where there is a big transition from synchronous class to asynchronous classes where
internet and laptops are the most important thing students must have. Support from the government
like the RA 10931 is indeed a big help for those students who’ve doesn’t enough money to continue
their studies in higher education by passing the entrance exam in their chosen university and having
the good grade are just the requirement for having the scholarship. Indeed I’m lucky because I’m one
of those blessed student who’ve accessed the RA No. 10931 and it is a big help for my family since
we’re not thinking for tuition every after the semester and I’m proud to say that I’m a Scholar ng
Bayan.
References:
 UniFAST
 DBM: Education gets P924.7 billion in proposed 2024 national budget; Focused expenditure
on subsidies, skills development, facilities enhancement