School infrastructure crisis

IN 2011, Education Secretary Armin Luistro said that the Department of Education (DepEd) lacks 66,800 classrooms. He and our nation’s leaders promised that the classrooms shortage in the Philippines would be solved by 2014. At the rate, the present administration is moving, I have a nagging feeling that the school infrastructure crisis won’t be solved soon.

We all know that 66,800 can’t be a constant number. Millions of young Filipinos reach school age every year, some existing school facilities deteriorate naturally, and many more students would enter and remain in the public school system because of the K to 12 program.

Let’s get real. If fewer classrooms were built to accommodate new entrants to the public school system and allowing for natural rate of decay of school facilities, then it is reasonable to assume that the classroom crisis in 2011 has worsened rather than improved.

In 2011, Congress authorized ₱12.7 billion for the provision of educational facilities. The amount shall be used “for the construction, rehabilitation, replacement, completion and repair of elementary and secondary buildings/water and sanitation facilities including those in areas experiencing acute classroom shortage, and the acquisition of school furniture and fixtures.” This item, however, was placed by the President under conditional implementation.

In addition, Congress authorized, under the Special Purpose Funds — DepEd School Building Program, an additional amount of P1 billion, for “the construction, rehabilitation, replacement, completion and repair of elementary and secondary school buildings: PROVIDED, That the DepEd shall ensure that all school buildings to be constructed shall be provided with the corresponding number of school furniture and fixtures.” This, too, was placed by the President under conditional implementation.

Thus in 2011, no less than ₱13.7 billion was provided for in the national budget for the construction and rehabilitation of school buildings. I said no less because given the slow implementation of public infrastructure projects in 2011, the ₱13.7 billion could have easily been augmented.

But a conditional veto by the President introduces a built-in delay in project implementation. The veto required the preparation of guidelines by the Department of Education that are compliant with the presidential veto. The problem is that the reason for the veto was hazy.

For the “Provision for Educational Facilities,” the president’s conditional veto said: “The provision for educational facilities under the DepEd budget should cover the requirement for the acquisition of equipment for instructional purposes.” While for the DepEd School Building program, the conditional veto said: “It is self-evident that for every construction of school building, there is an associated duty to provide the corresponding school desks, furniture, fixtures and equipment for instructional purposes. Otherwise, the provision for educational facilities would be deficient to the prejudice of our public education system.” Seriously?

Why can’t the President just say what he means, which is: “I want to implement the school building program the public-private partnership (PPP) way, not the usual turn-key basis.” Hence, a significant part of the school infrastructure program was either delayed or not implemented at all.

Now, the appropriate and pressing question: How many new school buildings were promised to be built and how many were actually built in 2011? If none or if less than the original target, what happened to the funds (actually authority to spend the money) released in 2011? How about the unreleased appropriations?

In 2012, Congress authorized ₱17.9 billion for the provision of basic educational facilities.

In addition, Congress authorized an additional ₱1 billion “for the construction, rehabilitation, replacement, completion and repair of elementary and secondary school buildings, the construction of water and sanitation facilities, and the acquisition of school desks, furniture, fixture and equipment for instructional purposes…” was provided for in the Special Purpose Fund-School Building Program.

In sum, some ₱18.9 billion have been authorized for the provision of educational facilities in 2012.

Hence, the same appropriate and pressing question applies: How many new school buildings were promised to be built and how many were actually built in 2012?

Fast forward to 2013. Congress authorized the Department of Education ₱11.1 billion for the requirement of basic educational facilities. In addition, another ₱14.1 billion has been authorized for the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for basic education facilities. Moreover, an additional ₱1 billion has been provided for under the Special Purpose Funds-School Building Program for the construction, rehabilitation, replacement, completion and repair of kindergarten, elementary and secondary school buildings.

In sum, ₱26.2 billion has been authorized for basic education facilities in 2013. On March 6th this year, two months after the 2013 budget has been approved, Budget Secretary Abad proudly announced that he has approved the release of ₱10 billion to the DPWH for the construction of basic education facilities nationwide. The announcement looks impressive for the uninitiated, but not good enough for those who know how government works.

What was released was not cash but authority to spend. So, at least, the process of constructing public school infrastructure can start. Projects can be bid out and awarded. But it will take a while before school facilities would rise from the grounds, perhaps after the rainy season.

Recall that a total of ₱14.1 billion was authorized for DPWH. What happened to the remaining ₱4 billion? It reveals that DepEd was not ready with a list of projects that would total ₱14.1 billion for the DPWH to implement.

And what about the list of basic education facilities projects that DepEd is supposed to implement itself (the ₱11.1 billion plus the ₱1 billion)? I thought the list of classroom shortages has been prepared a long time ago. Has indecision permeated through the entire bureaucracy?

Over a period of three years, 2011 to 2013, Congress has authorized a total of ₱58.8 billion to address the shortages of basic education facilities. Dividing this by 66,800, the school building shortage, will give a unit cost of ₱880,240 per school building. Amazing and disgusting.

An open and fiscally responsible administration should explain to the Filipino people why the provision of school facilities has become so expensive? Are school buildings constructed the PPP way really more expensive than the traditional turn-key basis? Is the cost differential between the two modes of service provision reasonable? Who’s running away with unreasonable profits?

And back to the pressing questions of the day: how many school buildings have been built since the Aquino administration took power? Of the ₱58.8 billion authorized appropriations for basic education facilities, how much has been disbursed? And how much longer will public school students suffer as a result of their poor learning environment?

Benjamin Diokno was secretary of budget and management from 1998 to 2001. He is professor of economics at the University of the Philippines School of Economics.
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