DepEd’s budget cut may affect learners

The realignment of the P8.4 billion budget from the Department of Education (DepEd) to augment funds for COVID-19 response will hit the vulnerable and marginalized students, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said Sunday.

In a statement, Gatchalian explained that an increase in dropout rate is seen as the budgetary items that were cut in DepEd’s 2020 appropriations are intended to help learners who depend on scholarship grants.

“We’re cutting where it’s needed, and education is definitely one aspect that is an absolute necessity during these times because we’re dealing with the marginalized sector. About 80 percent of (DepEd’s) enrollment is in the marginalized sector so if we want to reach out to them, let’s not cut these programs,” he said.

An increase in dropout rate is seen as the budgetary items that were cut in DepEd’s 2020 appropriations.

In a previous Senate hearing of the Committee on Basic Education, DepEd Undersecretary for Finance Annalyn Sevilla said that a total amount of P8.4 billion was cut from the previous and the 2020 appropriations for the DepEd including its attached agencies as 35 percent of its total budget were realigned for COVID-19 response.

This is in accordance with the Department of Budget and Management’s (DBM) National Budget Circular which ordered all departments that 35 percent of programmed appropriations under the 2020 national budget will not be available for release to augment funds for the government’s COVID response.

Of the said amount, P196.09 million was realigned from DepEd’s 2019 continuing appropriations.

From the 2020 budget, DBM has cut P5 billion from DepEd’s Last Mile Schools Program, P1.475 billion from its Government Assistance and Subsidies including the Senior High School Voucher Program, P107 million from Special Education Program budget, P500 million from the School-Based Feeding Program, among others.

According to Gatchalian, 60,000 students are on the brink of losing their scholarship grant subsidies because of the reduction in the appropriations for the Senior High School Voucher Program.

“When I saw these cuts, the first thing that came into my mind is the marginalized because they will be the first ones who will be directly hit by this move and we want to help them,” he said.

Gatchalian echoed his call to pass Senate Bill (SB) 1565 or the Education in the New Normal Act.

The chairman of the Basic Education Committee said that “new normal” in the education sector should be “resilient and inclusive.”

By enacting the bill, the lawmaker said that the government will provide Safe Schools Reopening Plan in times of state emergencies, accessible and responsive services for marginalized learners including those with special conditions and disabilities.

SB 1565 also bats for DepEd’s fast transition to digital education which will support distance learning.