Senator wants lack of textbooks investigated

A PHILIPPINE Senator has filed a resolution seeking to probe the Department of Education’s (DepEd) failure to procure enough textbooks for students leading to lower scores in such subjects as Mathematics and Writing.

Under Senate Resolution No. 972, Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian said Filipino students are forced to share textbooks due to a lack of learning materials provided by DepEd, which has led to their lackluster academic performance.

Based on a report by the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM II), DepEd had only procured 27 out of the 90 textbook titles required for Grades 1 to 10 since the K to 12 program was introduced in 2013.

The report showed that between 2018 and 2022, only P4.47 billion out of the P12.6 billion allocated for textbooks were obligated, but only P951.9 million was disbursed for the textbooks.

Mr. Gatchalian also cited the Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics 2019, which said that 8 in 100 Grade 5 Filipino students shared their language and mathematics textbooks, leading to lower scores in reading, writing and mathematics.

He said EDCOM II had consulted with the DepEd, the National Book Development Board and groups of private textbook publishers that cited insufficient development time and a prolonged review process as hurdles to procurement. They had also cited high participation costs and pricing issues that contributed to low procurement.

The Education department earlier committed to deliver 80% of textbooks for Grades 1,4, and 7 by July.

“In the middle of efforts to raise the quality of education in the country, it is important for us to ensure that every student has enough textbooks,” Mr. Gatchalian said.