Solon underscores importance of primary education

The government must focus on quality education as the most vital vehicle to maximize human resource development, starting right on basic primary education.

“The universal kindergarten program involving some 2.3 million five-year-old children in pre-school is very important,” Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara said, adding that the education sector really needs more government funding so “we have to prioritize, maximize and efficiently utilize available resources for human development.”

Angara, who is chairman of the House committee on higher and technical education, strongly supports the P1.9-billion pre-school program of the Department of Education (DepEd) to address the glaring gaps in the country’s basic education program which would entail the hiring of thousands of new teachers, excluding the current unfilled teaching positions.

“We can only produce quality students by also employing quality teachers,” he said, noting the proposed DepEd budget for 2012 is P238.8 billion or 15.2 percent higher than the current outlay of P207.3 billion (inclusive of the School Building Fund).

The new budgetary proposal, to undergo plenary debate by Sept. 16, allocates some P2.9 billion for the creation of some 13,000 teacher positions, exclusive of the P8.9 billion lodged under the MPBF for unfilled teaching positions.

There is also a provision of P18.4 billion for basic educational facilities which include the construction and rehabilitation of 45,231 classrooms, purchase of 2.53 million desks and chairs, and construction of 25,667 water and sanitation facilities.

“There is also the need to procure some 45.5 million textbooks and manuals with the proposed budget of P2.6 billion as listed in the 2012 GAA for DepEd,” Angara said.

The DepEd’s program designed to build capacities through education also has provisions for scholarships that include P6.5 billion under the Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (Gastpe), which not only provide scholarship opportunities to deserving students but also helps decongest public schools.

There is also the amount of P2.1 billion to benefit scholars in science-related education, P681 million to finance Commission on Higher Education (Ched)’s Student Financial Assistance Programs (Stufaps) which covers some 47,330 grantees and P700 million for the 30,000 slots that will be offered by Tesda under its training-for-work scholarship program.

Likewise, one of the vital components of the education sector is support to higher education which allots some P25.8 billion for 110 SUCs to support quality tertiary education and P500 million allotted under Ched to make sure that the curricula of SUCs are focused on the priority areas for economic development like business, tourism, agriculture and fisheries, and infrastructure development. –Charlie V. Manalo and Gerry Baldo, Daily Tribune