Lack of budget, lack of modules?

Ma. Corazon Quizon Carlos

BY the second quarter of the upcoming school year, the Department of Education said it may discourage students who have gadgets or smart phones from choosing to use self-learning modules.

According to the DepEd, this will cut down the provision of self-learning modules to 6 million from 13 million, or by more than half.

This, DepEd said, would mean a significant reduction in requirements.

During the enrollment period, 59% of the 22 million students enrolled in public schools or almost 13 million learners preferred the use of the printed modules.

This will be addressed in the first quarter, in response to the request of parents and family members who chose printed self-learning modules as their preferred mode of learning for the learners.

But in the 2nd quarter, the agency might discourage those with gadgets from getting the printed modules.

The DepEd said that as to date, 83.64% of school division offices have reported that they are “on track” in printing the modules. There are some school divisions, however, which have decided to distribute a single copy of the modules per two students – citing less funds for the printing.

A DepEd official mentioned that it would be impossible to provide each student a copy of the modules when classes in public schools begin on October 5 due to lack of budget provided under the 2021 National Expenditure Program (NEP).

The agency has proposed a P34 billion budget to provide one self-learning module per student, but the Department of Budget and Management appropriated only P15 billion.

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The author is Administrative Assistant II at San Vicente Elementary School,

Apalit District