As the Department of Education (DepEd) is set to receive a 94-percent budget increase for its DepEd Computerization Program (DCP) under fiscal year 2022, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian asked the agency to guarantee that the fund will be properly used to provide computers to public schools across the country.
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Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture, noted that DepEd was only able to disburse 27 percent of its available appropriations for the year 2019 and 2020 under the DCP.
In fiscal year 2021, the DCP program had an allocation of P6 billion whereas under the 2022 National Expenditure Program (NEP), it will receive P11.65 billion.
Despite Gatchalian supporting the budget increase of the program, he gave emphasis on its proper use in order to ensure learning continuity through digital methods.
Looking at the past experience of the department in terms of dispensing the budget on computerization, I've noted that it has some issues in terms of obligations and disbursement,
he said.
According to the 2020 Commission on Audit (CoA) report on DepEd, merely 7,555, or 16.29 percent out of the targeted 38,827 Information and Communications Technology (ICT) packages, which were funded under the DCP by the General Appropriations Acts for Fiscal Years 2018-2020, were delivered at the end of 2020.
The CoA flagged delays in the delivery of DCP packages for fiscal year 2020 with the approved budget of P2.37 billion. These delays badly affected the program's objectives of enhancing the teaching-learning process and raising the ICT literacy of learners and educators.
In 2019, state auditors flagged supplier woes and the readiness of schools to receive ICT packages as some schools were not ready to receive the packages due to lack of multimedia or computer rooms, proper electrical groundings, wirings and circuit breakers, and window grills.
Some suppliers were also reported by ICT coordinators who did not provide after-sales services and could no longer be reached through their contact details, making it possible for them to escape liability.
We really have to pay attention to the suppliers if they can supply honestly because with P11 billion, your (DepEd's) hands will be full in terms of procuring all these equipment,
Gatchalian said.
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