STUDENT COUNCIL ALLIANCE OF THE PHILIPPINES

All over the country to change it!

#34-D Matulungin St., Brgy. Central, Quezon City 1100 Member Young Progressives Southeast Asia Observer International Union of Socialist Youth

STUDENT COUNCILL ALLIANCE OF THE PHILIPPINES PROPOSAL TO REALLOCATE MORE PDAF FUNDS TO CHED AND DEPED.
Last September 11, the House of Representatives agreed at the committee level to realign their controversial P25.2-billion Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) to 6 line agencies. The breakdown of the allocation is provided below:

tel. (+632) 435-82-27 www.scapnational.wordpress.com scap.neb@gmail.com

STUDENT COUNCIL ALLIANCE OF THE PHILIPPINES

All over the country to change it!

#34-D Matulungin St., Brgy. Central, Quezon City 1100 Member Young Progressives Southeast Asia Observer International Union of Socialist Youth

We would like to propose to realign the 15% of 35% of DPWH to Education and Health Sector in particular; CHED, DEPED and DOH will get additional 5% each.

tel. (+632) 435-82-27 www.scapnational.wordpress.com scap.neb@gmail.com

STUDENT COUNCIL ALLIANCE OF THE PHILIPPINES

All over the country to change it!

#34-D Matulungin St., Brgy. Central, Quezon City 1100 Member Young Progressives Southeast Asia Observer International Union of Socialist Youth

Why Prioritize Education Sector? Philippine Education System The state of Philippine education is dismal is a statement of fact. Among others, shortages in classrooms, lack of adequate facilities, and overworked and underpaid teachers all paint a bitter picture which do not reflect our professed aspiration of providing quality and accessible education for the children of the nation. Aquino administration had pursued certain reforms to address the deteriorating quality of the Philippine education system, but we need a more holistic solution that will address not only a particular issue but each perennial problem of the education system. For the past years, education budget increased for certain percentage and as an alliance, we welcome the Increases in the education budget. However, it is not debatable that Philippine government spending on education sector is still below the international standard, which is pegged at 6% of the countrys gross national product (GNP) as recommended by the Delors Commission of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization [UNESCO]. Education under spending is not part of a just and progressive education system. We believe that appropriate budget for education should be allocated as this is an essential factor in ensuring better instruction, up-to-date facilities and materials, thus improved quality of education. Achievement of a quality, relevant and accessible education is not possible without sufficient support from the government. CHED Budget (15%) At present, there are a total of 110 state universities and colleges (SUCs) compared to 1,683 private higher education institutions. Clearly, the government investment for tertiary education is insufficient to cater the number of youth. In addition, SUCs have low funding resulting to poor quality of education and constant increase in tuition and other school fees, making it inaccessible to more students especially the financially challenged students. 10% will go to CAPITAL OUTLAY For how many years, budget allocation for state universities and colleges has no provision for capital outlay or improvement and upgrade of infrastructures, facilities and procurement of new equipments. 10% will be used to address the needs of different SUCs to more and updated facilities and equipments.
tel. (+632) 435-82-27 www.scapnational.wordpress.com scap.neb@gmail.com

STUDENT COUNCIL ALLIANCE OF THE PHILIPPINES

All over the country to change it!

#34-D Matulungin St., Brgy. Central, Quezon City 1100 Member Young Progressives Southeast Asia Observer International Union of Socialist Youth

5% will go to CHED Scholarship Programs The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) offers financial assistance to college students through its Student Financial Assistance Program (StuFAP). However, CHED can only provide assistance to one percent, instead of the targeted five percent, of graduating poor high school studentsonly 52,006 slots available for half and full merit scholarships for school year 2013-2014. The amount CHED provides is also insufficient as it is not meant to fully cover all the expenses of each student. Additional 5% will expand CHEDs capability to give scholarship grants to students in need with bias to the students who were formerly scholars of a certain congressperson and will be affected by the reallocation of the PDAF for 2014. DEPED BUDGET (10%) Academic year 2013-2014 marks the start of the K to 12 Basic Education Program, which primarily adds kindergarten and an additional two (2) years of secondary education following a K-6-4-2 model. This is the flagship reform strategy of the Department of Education (DepEd) to address the poor quality of education primarily in basic level, as shown in the low achievement scores of Filipino students in the National Achievement Test (NAT), not even have met the National Performance Standard of 75%. SCAP welcomes this development, which seeks to introduce reforms in the basic education curriculum. The program also seeks to enhance the transition management from basic education to employment and from basic education to higher education. However, additional two years does not necessary result in better instruction and performance of students. It must be crystal clear that this change in curriculum and structure of basic level will be useless without corresponding improvements in other aspects of the education system. In the absence of innovative ways of dealing with perennial problems such as, among others, classroom shortages, undermanned schools, decline in teaching competence, and dearth of facilities necessary for proper instruction, adding more years may only serve to worsen the Philippine education situation. 5% will go to Maintenance of Basic Educational Facilities (construction of school buildings, rehabilitation and renovation, acquisition of school desks, furniture and fixtures) According to the General Appropriations Bill of 2014, an initial of P44.6-billion will be used for the construction of 43,183 classrooms, as well as the rehabilitation and repair of 9,503
tel. (+632) 435-82-27 www.scapnational.wordpress.com scap.neb@gmail.com

STUDENT COUNCIL ALLIANCE OF THE PHILIPPINES

All over the country to change it!

#34-D Matulungin St., Brgy. Central, Quezon City 1100 Member Young Progressives Southeast Asia Observer International Union of Socialist Youth

classrooms and the acquisition of 1.6 million classroom seats, among others. This amount, according to DepEd will address the current problem in shortage of classrooms and educational facilities However, more classrooms should be constructed for contingency plan and to accommodate increasing number of enrollees every year. Based on DepEds standard design and cost estimates. The construction of a quality classroom with floor area of 7x9 meters will cost an average of P600,000. Hence, an additional 1.26B will increase our target number of classrooms for 2013 to 2100 classrooms more. 5% will go to Modernization of school facilities (construction of laboratories and acquisition of up-to-date learning materials like computers, laboratory materials, etc.) As we implement the new curricula under the K-12 program, modernization of educational facilities and learning materials should also be given priority to achieve our goal of solving the deteriorating quality of our educational system. The initial allocation of P44.6-b to maintenance of basic educational facilities does not include construction of computer laboratories, science laboratories and acquisition of other modern educational facilities; so an additional of 5% for modernization plan will enhance and complement the objective of the K-12 program. Beyond CHED and DEPED Budget We would like to propose to specifically spend the budget that will be allocated to DSWD to its feeding program. In-school feeding program should be implemented to combat malnutrition and help improve the school a performance and attendance of the students. This will include meals to bring them back to health and to decrease the number of students malnutrition that leads to higher drop-out rate. The feeding program is usually being implemented for 100-120 days. According to DSWD, it takes P15 to provide nutritious meal to a child. Hence, 5.04B budget of DSWD will translate, if given wholly to its feeding program, to 2.8M students being enrolled to this feeding program; given the 1:1 ratio of student to meal This initiative should be under the partnership of DepEd, DWSD and DOH.
tel. (+632) 435-82-27 www.scapnational.wordpress.com scap.neb@gmail.com