EMPOWERING SCHOOL BOARDS

DOREEN YUMUL GONZALES

Decentralizing governance in the basic education sector by strengthening the involvement of local government units is seen to improve the quality of basic education, according to the country’s officials. Officials said the local school board is already a good vehicle to implement some form of devolution at the local level because the mayor and the superintendent are part of it. The proposal is to add powers to the local school board and make sure there is accountability in an attempt to devolve education at the local level using existing mechanisms. The proposal is outlined in the 21st Century School Boards Act (Senate Bill No. 155), which seeks to make the local school boards responsible for formulating policies on improving the delivery and quality of basic education. Success indicators of these policies shall include, among others, the participation rate of students, the number of dropouts and out-of-school youth, and the achievement scores measured by national tests or assessment tools. The proposed measure also aims to expand the local school board to involve other education stakeholders and relevant actors in the community The bill also proposed to broaden the use of the Special Education Fund (SEF), which is sourced from the additional one percent tax on real property. While the Local Government Code of 1991 (Republic Act No. 7160) allots the SEF to the local school board to operate and maintain public schools and construct and repair school buildings, the bill proposes that the expanded use of the SEF cover the salaries of teachers and non-teaching personnel, salaries of preschool teachers, and teachers' and non-teaching personnel's honoraria and allowances for additional services rendered outside of regular school hours. The proposed expanded use of the SEF will also cover capital outlay for pre-schools, and the operation and maintenance of Alternative Learning System (ALS) programs, among others.

-oOoThe author is a Teacher II at San Isidro High School, Sta.Ana, Pampanga