Commission on Audit

Due to poor procurement planning that resulted in the low utilization of funds, the Science and Mathematics Equipment (SME) and Technical Vocational Livelihood (TVL) tools were not given to many public schools in 2022, the Commission on Audit (COA) said.

In its audit report, COA said that the Department of Education (DepEd) considers the provision of SME and TVL learning tools and equipment (LTE) to public schools "of utmost importance" in order to "maximize learning in science and mathematics subjects, and the development of technical-vocational skills among learners."

However, COA said its audit team found that the utilization of the budget allotted for SME and TVL learning tools was "very low" at 14.54 percent, while funds disbursement rate was also low at 37.51 percent as of Dec. 31, 2022.

Citing an example, COA said that in Samar, state auditors found that the provision of SME and TVL tools and equipment were not fully achieved due to poor procurement planning by the management, which resulted in the non-utilization of funds amounting to P4,168,623.  It said there was also delay in the delivery of the procured goods.

In Surigao del Sur and Tandag City, it said sub-allotment release orders aggregating P3,840,877 and P565,908, respectively, were received to cover funding for the SME and TVL tools. However, COA auditors said that the allotment was not utilized, and there was also no successful implementation of the project.

"It bears stressing that the timely and efficient implementation of projects is necessary in order for DepEd to attain its organization outcomes. The utilization of allotment is one of the principal means of gauging the agency's capacity to implement," COA’s audit report said.

"The non-utilization of the allotments for the project showed the limited capability of the agency to implement its planned projects without incurring any delay. Resultantly, recipient public schools were not timely provided with the necessary LTE, thus depriving them of the opportunity to maximize the enhancement of the quality of teaching and learning on science, mathematics, and TVL through hands-on experience on a timely basis," it said.

Thus, COA called on DepEd to fast-track the implementation of the remaining contracts to maximize the utilization of the funds for the LTE program.

For DepEd’s regional office in Samar, COA has recommended a fast-track on procurement planning and processes for its future allotments to avoid delays.

The regional offices in Surigao del Sur and Tandag City have been instructed to expedite the procurement of the necessary learning tools and equipment to ensure the timely implementation of projects within 2023.

Also in its audit report, COA called out the DepEd about its School-Based Feeding Program (SBFP) which it deemed as "not optimally achieved" in 2022.

COA said there were several deficiencies spotted by state auditors in the implementation of the SBFP, which hampered the successful implementation of the program with the aim of providing good nutrition to kindergarten learners and Grades 1 to 6 students.

It said the issues include the delayed implementation of both Regular and Milk Feeding Components in the aggregate amount of P82,011,174.29, unutilized SBFP funds of P2,689,909.80 in Region I which was used for another purpose, lapses in the procurement process of pasteurized milk and nutritious food products covering contracts in the total amount of P60,899,192.18, non-compliance with technical specifications and non-provision of complete item specifications in the purchase order, and lapses and problems encountered in the deliveries of food and supply of milk, among many others.