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FY 2012 Internal Budget Hearing (April 13-15, 2011)
THE SECRETARY DIRECTIONS IN THE PREPARATION OF
FY 2012 BUDGET PROPOSAL
MFO 1-A – Kindergarten
1.
On crucial resources
a. Map out all Kindergarten teachers that will be used this coming school year 2011-2012;
then coordinate with RSD-OPS in computing the final figures on teacher requirement.
b. Lodge the salaries/allowances of Kindergarten volunteer teachers in the budget proposal as
a separate item, instead of including it in the MOOE in FY 2012. It was suggested that
volunteer teachers should be LET passers to ensure quality of teaching.
c. Triangulate data on classrooms taken from DSWD & DILG with DepEd’s to get the actual
classroom requirements and to know the number of day care centers that the Department
needs to request this coming SY 2011-2012.
d. Mr. Ferdie Bergado, BEE staff, was asked to submit a report to the Secretary regarding data
on Day Care Centers taken from ECCD Council, to be consolidated with DepEd data by Abram,
which will be used in estimating the classroom requirements this coming school year. It was
emphasized that Abram’s role is not to prepare data but to keep and analyze data.
2. On Day Care Centers
a. On organization of classes - use day care centers to make Kindergarten classes more
accessible to the clientele.
b. A mechanism for accreditation and monitoring for day care centers should be developed.
c. Discuss operational arrangement with the day care centers.
3. On Teachers’ training – Kindergarten teachers to undergo cluster-based training, with a core of
trainers in the regions; 3 teachers per division will be sent to TEIs for an 18 unit training.
4. On the use of digitized materials
a. Printed materials will only be printed by schools that have no IT facilities (computer and
printer) to compel teachers in using technology.
b. Asec Laguda was asked to prepare a Memo on ‘shifting from printed to digitized materials’.
The data on the number of schools that will be given CDs or printed materials must be
prepared.
5. On Kindergarten study
a. The Department, according to Usec Varela, should be judicious in committing GOP funds to
studies, consider other funding agencies that are willing to finance studies, i.e. UNICEF and
AusAID, etc.
b. The Secretary said that the study is not needed; he would rather put up Kindergarten
classrooms than spend an amount for this.
c. Instead of the study, the Secretary emphasized two things that he would like to monitor in
the Kindergarten program: a) pupil readiness and b) dropout rates (grade 1 to grade 3). He
said further that he would rather use the said amount to test whether the program is good
or not.
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6. For consistency, the term Kindergarten will be used instead of Pre-School. The term Kinder can
be used in placed of Kindergarten but Kindergarten will be used in all official documents.
7. Asec Umali and Director Esdicul - to meet with Mr. Efren Penaflorida and come up with a
program for 5 year olds, using itinerant teachers; this should be a joint project of DepEd and
DSWD to reach out to the street children.
MFO 1-B – ELEMENTARY
1.
On Alternative Delivery Modes (ADMs)
a. BEE to prepare list of schools that are implementing and not implementing ADMs. Prioritize
construction of learning activity centers / multi-purpose halls for those schools that are ready
to implement ADM program. The two types of learning stations that will be put up for ADMs
in 2011 are: multi-purpose halls and kiosks.
b. The school should designate Master Teachers to teach ADM.
c. There will be provision of honoraria, tablets, and laptops to those schools that will
implement ADMs.
d. BEE to prepare a program for MISOSA that would start scaling up even in FY 2011 budget and
to provide data on how many children will be able to serve by this intervention program.
e. BEE to work together with BALS on a program for street children.
2. On enhancing participation and completion
a. The Regional Directors and Schools Division Superintendents will be instructed to tell school
heads to coordinate with LGUs and to link-up with barangay officials in encouraging parents
to register their children early in school. The Secretary further said that the real key here is
‘networking with the community’.
b. BEE to work out on how to compute the unreached, those with special needs that are not in
mainstream programs, SPED centers, or in private/NGO institutions, for them to be included
in the data on participation.
3. On high dropout rates - A demerit system will be enforced to schools that will post high drop-out
rates, penalizing schools that reported high enrolment in June then the number plummeted by
August-September. It was mentioned that the need to have student ID system is imperative to
facilitate tracking of those who will drop out or transfer to other schools.
4. On multigrade schools
a. Prioritize the 7,950 multigrade schools in all programs and in the allocation of crucial
resources, then cascade later to other schools; i.e. textbooks, health and nutrition, internet
connectivity.
b. Discuss the best way to distribute MOOE among different schools, with consideration to the
multigrade schools and integrated schools.
c. Disaggregate multigrade schools and present targets that are specific to their needs.
5. On SReA - disaggregate data on assessment by those who underwent the 10-month Kindergarten
program, summer Kindergarten program, and those who did not have any ECCD experience.
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6. On MTB-MLE program, Ms. Rose Villaneza, the focal person for this program was asked by the
Secretary to prepare data on the target number of dialects, Instructional Materials, etc. , then
meet with him the following week.
7. On Reading Recovery Program
a. The budget panel perceived that the proposed amount of PhP 27M is quite expensive
considering the limited scope of the study. It was articulated by Usec Varela that there is no
issue as to the need to provide an intervention program that would address those with
reading difficulties, but the real issues are: a) the limited scalability - the target beneficiary is
only two (2) thousand pupils; b) implementation of a patented intervention from New
Zealand; and c) implementation without knowing how it can be scaled up and if this will be
scaled up, how much budget will be required in the following years.
b. It has been decided, however, that the Reading Recovery program will be included in the
budget proposal but this does not mean that this will be for New Zealand.
c. The Secretary suggested that a meeting with Ms. Mirla Olores and the New Zealand
ambassador be scheduled to discuss the rationale and viability of this program.
8. On ICT-enhanced curriculum – this will be modeled in about 200 schools, and it was reported that
93 schools will be provided with ICT package and internet connectivity.
9. On school feeding
a. The Secretary prefers to have mass feeding on selective schools (Kindergarten until grade 3)
rather than selective feeding in all schools.
b. The other option is that, instead of allocating an amount to buy feeding materials, it could be
used in putting up a vegetable garden in every school. The schools that have been identified
to have greater prevalence of malnourished children should be the first to push for the
vegetable garden. If this is the formula, according to the Secretary, 100% of children from
Kindergarten to Grade 3 could be reached with the same amount of budget.
10. It was emphasized by OIC-Director Hernandez that the budget for classroom construction cannot
be used to pay for neither rental nor construction of classroom outside DepEd property; but can
be realigned to classroom repair in the event that the recipient school has no more space for the
construction of a new one. Rental was suggested to be included as a separate item.
11. On trainings, the Secretary emphasized that there should be less travel in the conduct of trainings.
MFO 2 - SECONDARY
1.
On raising high school enrolment through ADMs
a. The open high school is identified as the intervention to reach out to the 1.3M OSYs. BSE to
submit a proposal on how to fast track implementation of this program, even for this FY 2011
and on a bigger scale in FY 2012 budget.
b. The expanded Open High School will be implemented to contribute in the attainment of high
participation rate. This would mean additional number of teachers, equipment, and other
facilities for the secondary level. The Secretary then asked Director Andrada to sit down with
Usec Varela to conceptualize a program for 2011 via a GASTPE type of implementation to
bring down financial requirements.
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c. Engage private schools and think of the arrangements that would be appropriate for them to
really expand their own capacities, particularly in areas where 32% of public high schools can
no longer expand in terms of student accommodation.
d. If expansion of GASTPE would be focused on OSYs, then this will address partly the concern
that DepEd have been subsidizing middle-class families, because most OSYs belong to the
lower quartile.
e. BSE to prepare a program for DORP that would start scaling up even in FY 2011 and scaling up
in FY 2012 and to provide data on how many children will be able to serve by this intervention
program.
f. Requirements of high schools that will implement ADMs will be submitted to the Secretary
as they come, and not wait for the list to be completed.
g. It was mentioned that the Department will work within the abovementioned parameters in
the next five years. The adjustment in budget support for ADMs, particularly the open HSs,
will be submitted on April 18.
2. Entrepreneurship program
a. On program for entrepreneurship - push for vegetable production, agricultural products, and
the like; include the production of items that we buy every year, like chalk and Math/Science
equipment that can be developed by Tech-Voc HSs.
b. Identify a nearby TESDA center for possible planning and sharing of equipment and facilities,
which could be done by Tech-Voc schools and the secondary education in general;
equipment sharing between Tech-Voc schools and Regular High Schools is also suggested.
Identify one person who will be our contact with TESDA and then begin by looking at areas
where convergence can be done between TESDA and DepEd TechVoc HSs, including sharing
of teachers and other facilities.
3.
Hiring of volunteer teachers for special courses
a. On hiring of volunteer teachers for special courses, consult with legal on how this could be
done, ex. Fresh graduates who would like to volunteer teaching in a poor high school,
Physics, Computer, and the like.
b. Per DepEd Order # 76, s.2010 – this Department Oder contains policy guidelines on the
implementation of the 2010 secondary education curriculum, wherein it states that in the
absence of fulltime teachers who can teach livelihood courses, schools are authorized to
secure services of part-time experts as resource persons who may be paid on honorarium
basis.
c. In terms of the production of lectures, work in partnership with either ABSCBN, Knowledge
Channel to be able to bring the cost down. The Secretary would rather have DepEd working
with other partners rather than spend an amount for this.
d. The other possibility is partnering with universities with capability in animation or video
production that could be sold as a thesis project, in which the cost could be borne by the
students.
4. Tech-Voc as a special program - should be embedded in the secondary education, like other
special programs of this bureau, such as arts and sports.
5. Moving towards IT education -The Secretary expressed ideas on the roll-out of plan towards
moving high school curriculum into a full IT supported education, and to identify other items in
the budget that can be directed to IT, like textbook; until the Department attains a full-blown ITbased education.
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6. Integrated festival of talents, Director Andrada assured the Secretary that nationwide contests
will not be held during the school year. Below is the contest scheme that will be implemented in
the secondary education:
a. end of each quarter (1st and 2nd) - culminating performance of children at the school level;
b. end of the third quarter - division qualifying performance;
c. end of the fourth quarter - the regional performance round; and by the
d. end of the school year, the field have already identified the participants that will join the
national contests, which will be held during summer.
MFO 3 – ALTERNATIVE LEARNING SYSTEM
1.
Accreditation and Equivalency Program
a. Test takers include those with and without learning interventions; without learning
intervention are those who just walk-in during the examination day.
b. The difference between A & E test and PEPT was clarified by the proponent offices;
PEPT, according to Director Benito, is a placement test given to out-of-school children who
would like to go back to the mainstream, including Grades 1-6 and Years 1-4; while A & E,
according to Asst. Director Joble, is given to those with & without ALS intervention but
would like to take the A & E test in grade 6 or fourth year.
c. The Secretary suggested that out-of-school children ‘without intervention’ should take
instead the PEPT rather than A&E so that ALS could focus all their resources on those who
are willing to have intervention.
d. NETRC to authorize ALS to give PEPT test in areas where there are learners who are
interested to be mainstreamed. The Secretary commented that it does not seem right to
give A & E test without intervention for it would give a bad impression on ALS programs.
e. ALS was instructed to prepare a report on how to deal with those test takers without
intervention and see what the Department can do this coming school year.
2. On ALS programs
a. ALS to revise programs up to 2015 to address EFA goals and to reach out to the 2.1M OSYs.
b. ALS programs to focus on basic literacy and functional literacy for those sixteen year olds
and above who are marginalized, those that could neither attend the formal schooling, open
high schools, nor the drop-out recovery programs of the two other bureaus.
c. One of ALS’ best features is that they can do so much in so short a time. If ALS would be able
to prepare a very good program, the target number of 2.1M OSYs would substantially go
down; thus, the need for teachers should likewise be decreasing.
d. Rework on the target numbers beyond 2012, it could be a one-time type of program; after
this, there would be no more dropouts and illiterates.
3. On ALS mobile teachers – The Secretary advised BALS to go a little bit slow on hiring full-time
mobile teachers and leverage on the contracting scheme. Since this is just a one-time program,
with the idea on wiping out illiterates in four years time, the Department would have a problem
after four years because of the absence of a clear seamless program that will absorb these
mobile teachers into the regular stream.
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4. Strategies on the delivery of learning intervention
a. DepEd delivered, programs are delivered by mobile teachers and district coordinators.
b. Service providers, delivered by LGUs, non-government organization, or individual providers.
5. ALS to prepare a project proposal on the ‘eradication of illiterates in the country’, which includes
the tapping of private donors that will give scholarship grants to ALS learners, in the amount of
PhP 6,000 per learner.
6. BALS to work together with BEE on a program for street children.
General Guidelines/Comments in the preparation of FY 2012 Budget Proposal
1.
On budget presentation
a. As general rule, the Secretary announced that the word “lump sum” should not be included
in any budget presentation.
b. Programs should be integrated into a bigger program rather than having too many individual
programs. The items that have specific targets should include baseline and target data.
c. To help us better understand the budget presentation, include the status of each program
whether it is new, continuing, or just for a period of time.
d. Include special interventions on IP communities, Madrasah, SPED, and gender because these
are included in the frequently asked questions (FAQ) during budget hearings. The
Communications Unit will list down other FAQs and controversial items in the media in the
past year, to be reviewed and attended to before presenting FY 2012 budget to Congress.
e. The Secretary would like to support programs with no additional cost but serving more
clientele and push for maximum utilization of resources at the school level, like sharing of
computer laboratories and other facilities.
f. MFOs 1, 2, and 3 have to be consistent in terms of items that will be included in the
presentation, like capital outlay, MOOE, and salaries.
g. In the coming school year, the Secretary stressed that the salaries and allowances of
teachers should not be delayed, even if they are volunteers; this is major concern that needs
to be resolved with DBM.
h. On MOOE allocation per school, disaggregate computation of MOOE by three categories:
regular schools, multigrade schools, and integrated schools. Come up with a new formula in
consideration of each category.
i. A good rule of thumb, according to the Secretary, is to always prioritize the farthest school in
all programs and allocations of resources, before doing it in poblacion or other urban areas.
2. The main concerns of this Department that should be done at the soonest possible time or
before the school year starts are: hire teachers, build classrooms, and purchase equipment for
the Secretary believes that saving comes in two forms, the price and timeliness of delivery of
crucial resources. Those who/which will cause the delay (outside of control) of the deliverables
must be identified ahead of time to prepare for contingency plans.
3. On tracking of work progress
a. The proponent office of program/project/activity should assign a focal person that will be
responsible for the deliverable(s) and identify specific targets of each deliverable(s) to track
if it is delayed or not, so that the Secretary would know whom to run after when targets will
not be met. This only applies to the critical programs/projects/activities that need to be
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monitored, ex. on finances - how fast are you able to utilize the fund, how fast a supplier gets
a check, and the like.
b. In the system, Asec Laguda was asked to identify where tracking can be done without having
to go to a specific office to inquire on the status of a specific assigned task.
4. Target Clientele
a.
The Secretary stressed that it would be helpful for the Department to identify the target
clientele for each bureau to avoid overlaps of programs. In this connection, the bureaus
were asked to revise programs to address EFA goals and to reach out to the 5.3M OSYs by
2015. The specific targets for each group are shown in the following matrix:
OFFICE
COVERAGE
INTERVENTION
BEE
BSE
BALS
1.7M OSYs reach elementary but did not graduate
1.3M OSYs graduated in the elementary but did not go to high school
enrolled in secondary school but in danger of dropping out
2.1M OSYs marginalized group, those that could not attend the formal
school, Open High School, and other dropout recovery
programs, like MISOSA and DORP, and those whose ages are
16 and above but have no access to formal schooling.
MISOSA
Open High school
DORP
Basic Literacy &
Functional Literacy
Programs
BEE &
BALS
.2M OSYs BEE and BALS to work together on a program for the
200,000 street children.
5. On coordination with the Communications Unit
a. The bureaus should coordinate with communications group, headed by Mr. Kenneth Tirado,
on any matters concerning communication plan.
b. The use of different terminologies and spellings of names must be verified with the
Communications Unit, i.e. no comma after the name of the Secretary – Br. Armin A. Luistro FSC;
K to 12 and not K + 12 or K-12; Kindergarten instead of Pre-school, the term Kinder can be
used in placed of Kindergarten, but Kindergarten will be used in all official documents.
c. The definition of terms must be decided upon by everybody for common understanding.
6.
On centralized data
a. All data will be lodged under the office of Abram.
b. The data that will be released, for public consumption, must be generated from or validated
with Abram’s data. The Office of the Secretary should be informed upon discovery of
erroneous data in Abram’s database.
c. In case of changes/discrepancy of data, an official letter will be submitted to the Office of the
Secretary, including the analysis of data that need to be changed, to effect such corrections
in the Abram’s database.
d. An office that publishes data deviating from the one submitted to Abram will be required to
submit an explanation/justification to the Office of the Secretary.
7. On private school data collection, include ‘submission of data’ as the primary requirement for the
issuance of “permit to operate” and “certificate of recognition” to compel these institutions to
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submit the required data on a regular basis; this item should be included in the next MANCOM
meeting.
8. Moving towards IT education
a. The Secretary stated that the Department should support a program that was developed by
a particular group but would be lodged in a seamless system that would be accessible to
everyone.
b. Asec Laguda gave an update on the development of DepEd portals; the arrangement being
made, at this point, is the development of separate portals for bureaus but catering only to
teachers. He requested the support of the three bureaus on the content that would be
uploaded to these portals.
c. Another milestone, according to Asec Laguda, is the opening up of resources for students,
which is something to be figured out soon after the completion of teachers’ portal.
9. On student ID system
a. The Secretary was informed that an ID system is embedded in the School Information System
that is being developed in the Department, in which a specific ID number is assigned
permanently to every student, including the code of his specific school of origin.
b. Asec Laguda averred that two initiatives on school based information system currently exist
in the Department, which needs to be merged at some point, the SIS-MS and the SIS under
Erwin Yumping, wherein both incorporate the things that the Department wants.
c. A person will be assigned to track progress of this said system and to give regular update to
the Secretary.
d. The same ID system, once in placed, will be adopted for OSYs when they are enrolled in any
of the special programs in the Department.
10. Squeeze information from the RDs and SDSs, on which alternative delivery mode should DepEd
push for to decongest classrooms; the Secretary mentioned, though, that he prefers to push for
IT-based education.
11. On ‘no collection policy’ – the Department cannot push for this policy because of the very small
amount of MOOE that the schools are receiving.
12. On ‘mandatory uniform policy’ – this has an impact on equity for it brings down the cost of
clothes that pupils/students wear in school.
MFO 4
13. On the issue of safety
a. OIC-Director Hernandez reported that an amount of PhP 80M is proposed for 2012,
prioritizing retrofitting works or immediate repairs of offices. He reported further that
DepEd does not have safety equipment and facilities, like fire alarm bell and fire escape. This
FY 2011, an amount of PhP 31M will be utilized for immediate repairs and procurement of
these said safety equipment.
b. The Secretary instructed to fast track the construction, concentrating first on retrofitting and
safety. The budget officer, Mr. Selwyn Briones, averred that a special APP will be prepared
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to fast track repairs. In addition, it was also announced that authority to procure safety
equipment will be signed immediately.
14. On office renovation/construction - The Secretary observed that there is no thematic connection
in the designs of the office. According to him, there should be a unifying design that speaks
about our culture, educational mandate, elegance, and simplicity. He requested Usec Muyot,
because he now a Commissioner in the National Commission for Culture & and the Arts, to lead in
the renovation of DepEd offices. He also mentioned the importance of having an environment
that speaks about DepEd mission, something that can be proud of about the Department, etc.
15. On renaming of Rizal II building to Teodora Alonzo Realonda - Asec Rey was asked by the Secretary
to come up with a program; the date of which will be somewhere close to June 19. A little
refurbishing of the lobby is suggested to be done in preparation for this event.
16. Mr. Kenneth Tirado had downloaded scanned copy of RA 7157, stating that all agencies should
appoint an education attaché, and Saudi Arabia will be the priority at this point because of
several number of Philippine schools.
17. Redeployment of BPESS employees to other DepEd units/offices/regions; Asec Umali was asked
to look into this matter for this might be an issue in the budget hearing. This will be discussed
further in the EXECOM meeting to look for other options.
18. The Secretary informed everyone that the Central Office is doing an inventory of all units that
have been attached/allied/adopted by DepEd, including Secretariats, specific programs, like
EDPITAF, and others. It is now at the stage of reviewing their existence, gathering relevant
information, and understanding the roles of each one with respect to the Central Office.
19. On Medical examinations (X-ray, ECG, CBC, mammography) of teachers
a. The Secretary prefers to partner with a medical group like PhilHealth rather than distributing
the money to the teachers.
b. Usec Varela conveyed his opinion on this matter; he stated that DepEd should be cautious in
the implementation arrangement because this might only make the service provider rich.
c. The Committee was advised to fine-tune and prepare an integrated plan, for the Secretary
expressed his desire to support a teacher subsidy for the medical expenses of teachers.
20. On the conduct of regional budget hearing - the Secretary commented that the same type of
budget hearing should be conducted with the regions, because this activity provides a one-sided
picture of the whole department. He then suggested that critical matters be identified and bring
these out during the MANCOM meeting, especially those that will be implemented in the
regions.
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FINAL INSTRUCTIONS / REMINDERS:
1. BEE – MISOSA program, to arrest the dropouts in the elementary.
2. BSE – Beef up ADM in the 2011 budget, prepare list of schools to be prioritized in the remaining
FY 2011 budget; the open high schools, as an intervention to arrest the high school dropouts; and
the street children would be a part of a special program.
3. BALS – a full-blown program to wipe out illiteracy in four years time, which would be used by the
Communications Unit for a major campaign for new funds.
The above mentioned programs are the critical ones that will be used as inputs in the EFA targets. If
these will not be included in the 2011 budget, DepEd top management would embark on a major fund
raising campaign for this purpose. It was stated that EFA targets will be reviewed based on the
projections made in this budget hearing.
4. The Health and Nutrition Center will prepare an integrated approach on health, nutrition, and
feeding.
5. Asec Laguda to report regularly on the integration of all IT programs, working towards
streamlining and making sure that this will be accessible to all. The most urgent item is the
student ID system because this will be used to track all OSYs; OSYs and dropouts (without ID)
will be given ID numbers once they come into the system
6. Asec Laguda to come up with a program that will make sure that private school permit is revoked
unless data are submitted to DepEd, Abram will determine the data that will be gathered.
7. BALS & NETRC to coordinate on the giving of tests to those test takers without intervention.
8. The issues on NAT, RAT, and DAT, to be included in the MANCOM agenda for discussion.
9. PFSED - Timetable on immediate repairs and retrofitting.
10. BPESS personnel, EXECOM to sit down with the group and Asec Umali was assigned to look into
the legal issues on this matter.
11. RAT Plan – it was announced that the members of the Change Management team are reviewing
the RAT plan, and certain members will be involved at certain phases in the region and division
level. The team recognizes the implication of the RAT Plan that is not yet approved, but
exploring various options to deal with the constraints of hiring.
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