DepEd forms new budget units
The need for a financial management reform in the Department of Education (DepEd) has prompted Secretary Leonor Briones to create two new units under the agency to ensure that its programs and projects will be implemented efficiently.
While having sufficient funding is very crucial to improve the overall quality of education in the country, Briones said that the budget increases which DepEd experienced in the recent years “have placed major pressures in the Department’s financial management policies, processes, and systems.”
Financial management reforms, she said, will allow the DepEd to deliver the improvements in basic education services and student achievement and sustain stakeholder confidence and trust.
In an effort to produce “better results quicker,” Briones, in separate order and memorandum, announced the creation of the Education Programs Delivery Unit (EPDU) and the Special Concerns Unit (SCU) under DepEd.
The EPDU, as stated in DepEd Order No. 71 s. of 2016, “aims to provide assistance in the implementation of plans and budget across all governance levels in the Department.” Briones stressed that the said DO “implements a policy decision by DepEd’s leadership to introduce decisive interventions to improve DepEd’s program and operation delivery capacity.”
Briones explained that the “strategic requirement for an EPDU is driven by significant changes in the contest in which the DepEd operates.” She noted that the current administration is committed to increase the Philippines’ education budget to five percent of GDP by 2022 to align with international standards and to increase student achievement.
The EPDU, approved last October 27, will be led by Briones and the Undersecretary for Finance. It will be comprised of an EPDU Director with three complementary teams which will take care of the portfolio and processes management; data, collection, reporting, and analysis; and communications and engagement. It will be implemented in two main stages: Initial operating capability and full operating capability.
Meanwhile, Briones – in DepEd Memo No. 205 s. of 2016 – said that the SCU was created in the “exigency of service.” The new Unit aims to assist Assistant Secretary and Chief of Staff Atty. Nepomuceno Malaluan “in handling special programs and projects” the Education Secretary has assigned. It will be headed by DepEd Director III Demetria Manuel.
The SCU started operations last September 1. Aside from providing assistance to the OSEC, Briones said that it was also created to “provide budget for identified programs and projects for the Unit and to coordinate with various DepEd officials, staff and stakeholders for collaboration and other pertinent concerns for efficient implementation of programs and projects.”