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Manila Bulletin devider Business devider The Economy devider Philippines, World Bank revise teacher-training loan to fix delays

Philippines, World Bank revise teacher-training loan to fix delays

Published Nov 14, 2025 01:58 pm
The Philippines and the World Bank have agreed to amend the terms of the loan financing for the Department of Education’s (DepEd) Teacher Effectiveness and Competencies Enhancement Project (TEACEP), whose implementation had been stalled by late budget releases and procurement issues.
On behalf of the Philippine government, Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto signed the amendment to the loan agreement on Wednesday, Nov. 12. Zafer Mustafaoğlu, World Bank Division Director for the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei, signed the same amendment on behalf of the Washington-based multilateral lender last Oct. 7.
The amendment adjusted the 12 performance-based conditions (PBCs) and loan amount allocations, following a restructuring requested by the Philippines last September.
A separate Nov. 11 implementation status and results report showed that only $7.99 million, or 7.26 percent of the $110-million investment project financing (IPF) approved by the World Bank for TEACEP back in June 2023, has been disbursed to date.
This project loan, being implemented by the DepEd in Regions 9, 12, and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), will close on June 30, 2028, the last day of the Marcos Jr. administration.
In the latest status report, the World Bank said that “there has been clear progress on implementation, with key procurements completed such as the independent verification firm, coaching firm, and impact evaluation firm.”
The report said that over half of the targeted teachers and two-thirds of school heads and supervisors have completed training, with additional programs held in BARMM to strengthen literacy and numeracy skills.
Also, its career progression policy was finalized in August, and a midterm review is set for November, it added.
Aimed at improving the quality and equity of instruction in kindergarten to grade 6 (K-6) in the three selected regions, the project was delayed by the lack of budget cover and its inclusion in unprogrammed appropriations (UAs) in previous years’ national budgets, the World Bank said in earlier implementation reports, as reported by Manila Bulletin.
“The start of implementation of the project was delayed by over a year. This was a result of financial challenges, including delays in the release of the 2024 special allotment release order (SARO) and notice of cash allocation (NCA), which were only issued in August and November 2024, respectively. These delays have resulted in the rescheduling of key activities to 2025,” the World Bank said in the loan restructuring proposal made public in September.
“Moreover, procurement-related difficulties, such as unsuccessful bidding due to inadequate budget allocations and a limited pool of applicants—especially for individual consultant roles—have made it challenging to secure qualified personnel for the project’s execution,” it added.
As such, the Department of Finance (DOF) last Sept. 4 requested the World Bank to amend the loan agreement. In particular, the proposed amendment sought flexibility in the loan financing’s PBCs.
The document showed that, as the Philippine government asked the World Bank to move disbursements later in the project period due to initial implementation delays, the proposed restructuring would allow PBC targets to no longer be strictly time-bound. This means the project’s targets may be achieved and disbursed against anytime up to the loan closing date.
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