Incomplete, no textbooks for many Pinoy pupils for a decade, EDCOM II exec says

Filipino basic education learners in public schools struggled to learn for a decade with incomplete or no textbooks on hand, a senior member of Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM II) said.

Karol Mark Yee, executive director of EDCOM II, lamented that pupils in only two grade levels — Grades 5 and 6 — had complete textbooks from 2012 to 2022.

“For the entire decade that has passed, many of our learners have been going to school, but not having textbooks,” Yee said in Mariz Umali’s report Friday on 24 Oras.

The education sector has been receiving its budget from the national government for the textbooks, but has been struggling to fully utilize its funds.

From 2018 to 2022, only P1 billion of the government’s P12 billion allotment for textbooks was used, the 24 Oras report said.

The Department of Education (DepEd) acknowledged challenges with the textbook procurement process, which it said lasts up to three years.

“So what are we doing right now?… Kung sino ‘yung magde-develop ng manuscripts, sino magde-develop ng content, siya na rin ‘yung magpi-print at magde-deliver [ng textbooks],” said DepEd spokesperson Undersecretary Michael Poa.

(So what are we doing right now?… Whoever developed the manuscripts, whoever develops the content, they will be the ones to print and deliver [the textbooks.])

Based on its Year One Report titled “Miseducation: The Failed System of Philippine Education,” EDCOM II urged the DepEd to consider procuring textbooks that are readily available in the market rather than having publishers develop new ones.

Despite budget allocations, the EDCOM II report said, there have been delays in the procurement of textbooks in public schools that “impact the availability of essential educational materials and hinder effective teaching and learning.”

“EDCOM’s analysis of the data submitted by the Bureau of Learning Resources shows that for Kinder to Grade 10, only 27 textbooks have been procured since 2012,” the report read.

“Specifically, since the introduction of the K to 12 curriculum, only Grades 5 and 6 textbooks have been successfully procured,” it added.

Pandemic, K to 12 curriculum

The DepEd told GMA Integrated News that its textbook procurement was affected by the focus on distance learning modules during the pandemic. The agency also opted not to procure textbooks amid the changes in the K to 12 curriculum.

Meanwhile, the EDCOM II report also noted that some teachers were not proficient in the subjects they teach.

Poa assured that the DepEd was already conducting a study on how to address the teachers’ proficiency and teacher shortage as well.

Challenges in education, the EDCOM II report found, were worsened by malnutrition among learners.

“Kung pagdating sa foundational years mo, hindi ka nakakuha ng sapat na nutrisyon, ‘yung kakayanan ng utak mo na mag-absorb ng pagkatuto,” Yee said.

(If you are unable to get the right nutrition during your foundational years, your brain will be unable to absorb what is being taught.)

For his part, Poa said the DepEd has expanded its school feeding program. From the previous 120 days, Poa said, the number has been ramped up to over 200 to cover the entire school year.

Created by virtue of Republic Act (RA) 11899, EDCOM II is mandated to undertake a comprehensive national assessment and evaluation of the Philippine education sector’s performance.

The body is tasked to develop a more holistic, harmonized and coordinated education ecosystem, through a review of the mandates of the Department of Education, the Commission on Higher Education, and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority. — VDV, GMA Integrated News