P200B will be available for K to 12, says solon

BATANGAS REP. Hermilando Mandanas, former chair of the House ways and means committee, has assured local education officials that a P200-billion fund will be available for the implementation of the K to 12 program and the upgrading of school facilities.

In a letter to Education Secretary Armin Luistro dated April 25, Mandanas said the fund, which would come from unreleased Internal Revenue Allotments (IRA), could be used to ease the backlog of 200,000 classrooms and furnish them with chairs, tables, blackboards and electric fans.

Mandanas was the author of House Resolution No. 158 which urged the executive branch to prioritize the upgrading of the standards of basic education in the Philippines.

The upgrading will be undertaken by local government units (LGUS).

The funds are expected to come from P500 billion in unreleased IRA. Mandanas said the Supreme Court is expected to rule on his petition for the release of the IRA back dues to provinces, cities, towns and barangays on or before July 12.

Of the P500 billion, 40 percent or P200 billion will be used to finance the upgrading of basic education as contained in HR 158. This includes constructing 200,000 classrooms, complete with chairs, tables, blackboards and electric fans.

Another 50,000 e-learning centers, with at least one million computers with Internet connectivity, could be constructed for the 25 million elementary and high-school students now under the K to 12 program, he said.

Mandanas further said that 500,000 teachers and administrators would be provided with individual computers. At the moment, there is only one computer for every 250 public school students and only 2 percent of the teachers are computer literate.