While the improvement in the education sector’s budget for next year is a welcome development, this remains ‘far below’ the required resources to repair the ‘collapsing’ education system, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) said on Wednesday.
ACT Chair Ruby Bernardo commended the increase in the education budget, but said the figures do not guarantee that this could immediately solve the education crisis in the Philippines.
‘Historic does not mean sufficient,’ Bernardo said in a statement. ‘Although it is the biggest allocation in history, it still has to meet the minimum requirements to solve all the shortcomings and significant problems faced by our education system.’
Most senators backed the P1.044-trillion budget for the Department of Education (DepEd), with the agency marking it as a ‘historic’ increase on their end and hoping to utilize the funds to construct more classrooms.
Education Secretary Sonny Angara was also hopeful that the DepEd’s lion’s share for the 2026 annual budget would also help them in addressing the recommendations raised by the Second Congressional Commission on Education (Edcom 2).
For Bernardo, however, the 2026 budget would still fall short of the international standard of at least 6 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.
She also pointed out that the recent earthquakes and typhoons have also left thousands of classrooms either destroyed or damaged, displacing learners and teachers.
‘The shortcomings are just getting worse with the recent calamities that hit our country. Data from the DepEd itself showed that more than 14,000 classrooms either suffered heavy amounts of damage and destruction because of the typhoons, flooding and earthquakes,’ Bernardo said.
Shortages in teachers, learning resources, support personnel and safe learning spaces are also faced by the education sector, which Bernardo said cannot be solved by any ‘single budget increase,’ if without a long-term and structural approach from the government.
Rampant corruption is also a factor, according to her, stressing that it will also contribute to the growing problems faced by the education system, as well as social services.
‘We must protect this additional budget nevertheless, from any possible anomalies and corruption that can worsen our education crisis,’ Bernardo said. /mr