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Increase in 2022 budget vital in implementation of face-to-face classes, DepEd says
Increase in 2022 budget vital in implementation of face-to-face classes, DepEd says
The Department of Education (DepEd) on Tuesday, Jan. 4, said that the higher allocation for 2022 would be vital in its initiatives this year --- including the planned expansion of limited face-to-face classes nationwide.
DepEd said that the education sector received the highest increase in the approved 2022 General Appropriations Act (GAA) as announced by Malacañang.
Of the total P788.5 billion funding for the entire education sector, DepEd received P631.77 billion at the bicameral level.
"The additional funding would also be helpful in our implementation of limited face-to-face classes in public schools," Undersecretary for Finance Annalyn Sevilla said.
In particular, Sevilla highlighted the special provision of increasing the Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) threshold from P15,000 to P50,000.
She added that this would be a "massive lift to the field offices amid the pandemic challenges."
The pilot implementation of limited face-to-face classes was conducted from November to December in select schools.
While changes in risk classification and the surge in COVID-19 cases halted the expansion phase of limited face-to-face classes, DepEd remained hopeful that schools nationwide would still implement this once President Duterte gave his go-signal.
"We are confident that DepEd will be able to build on the progress of the BE-LCP with the budget allocated to us for 2022,” Sevilla said.
To ensure the safety of learners and its personnel, DepEd has been implementing the BE-LCP since School Year (SY) 2020-2021.
The BE-LCP was the response of DepEd to the challenges brought by the pandemic and to ensure learning continuity.
DepEd's BE-LCP outlined the policies for learning continuity for Kindergarten, Elementary, Junior High School (JHS), and Senior High School (SHS) for both public and private schools.
Through the BE-LCP, DepEd was able to open two school years --- School Year (SY) 2020-2021 and SY 2021-2022 despite the pandemic.
This school year, DepEd said that it has “gained momentum in transitioning to a brave, new world” after breaching the previous enrollment figure for SY 2021-2022 from 26.2 million to 27.2 million.
The four-percent increase in enrollment, the agency said, is a “strong showing of trust of learners and parents to DepEd in providing learning opportunities amidst the pandemic.”
With higher allocation this year, DepEd also expressed optimism that its reforms and initiatives to transform education in the country will push through.