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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Misplaced priorities? Teachers slam VP Sara's P10M 'vanity' book project

Misplaced priorities? Teachers slam VP Sara's P10M 'vanity' book project

Lawmakers urged to realign funds to address basic education shortages

Published Aug 22, 2024 05:53 am

A group of teachers and education workers criticized former Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary and Vice President Sara Duterte on Thursday, Aug. 22, for requesting millions in funds to reproduce a book she authored.

Sara reading.jpg
Vice President and former DepEd Secretary Sara Duterte (DepEd file photo) 

“The allocation of such a significant sum for a single book project is a glaring example of misplaced priorities,” said Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Chairperson Vladimer Quetua in a statement.

ACT condemned the Office of the Vice President’s P10 million budget request for the reproduction of Duterte's book titled “Isang Kaibigan” during the Senate Finance Committee's budget deliberations on the OVP’s 2025 proposed budget.

“Our public basic education system is in dire need of resources to provide adequate textbooks and learning materials for students. Yet, we see the Vice President seeking to publish her own narrative with taxpayers' money and diverting public funds to projects that serve personal interests,” Quetua lamented.

ACT argued that with public schools nationwide “grappling” with a severe lack of textbooks and other learning materials, “public funds must be directed toward resolving shortages in basic education needs, not vanity projects.”

Citing the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM2) Year One Report, ACT pointed out that “only Grades 5 and 6 pupils had access to complete textbooks” from 2012 to 2022.

Given this, ACT urged the Senate and Congress to “scrutinize” these budget proposals.

“They must ensure that every peso is spent where it counts—on addressing the critical shortages in our schools and uplifting the quality of education, rather than investing in projects that do not directly benefit the majority of our learners,” Quetua said.

The group also called on President Marcos' administration to fulfill the country's commitment to the United Nations to allocate at least six percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) to the education budget to address the challenges facing the education sector.

RELATED STORY: 

https://mb.com.ph/2023/5/29/ph-education-in-crisis-1

Related Tags

VP Sara VP Sara Duterte DepEd Isang Kaibigan Isang Kaibigan by Inday Sara Duterte
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