WELLNESS IN EDUCATION: Department of Education gets biggest share of 2014 National Budget. The Philippine education sector has the biggest share – P309.43 billion – of the P2.265-trillion 2014 National Budget in the General Appropriations Act (GAA). The fund includes P44.6 billion for the construction, repair, and rehabilitation of school buildings nationwide. The Department of Education (DepEd) is building this year 43,183 new classrooms, repairing 9,502 existing ones, and creating 1.59 million new classroom seats, in support of the K-to-12 program. In addition to 213 existing library centers, 10 more will be constructed and given books. Other projects include the procurement of 42 million more textbooks and workbooks to attain the ideal 1:1 student per textbook ratio, as well as learning modules and teaching guides. A considerable portion of the 2014 budget will help ensure the improvement of Philippine public education system, the Department of Budget and Management said. In 2013, the government was successful in most of educational requirement, and this year it is more determined to fully address the deficiencies. Skills training and capacity-building programs will be funded and implemented, including the school-based management installation support (P1 billion), Alternative Delivery Mode Project or e-IMPACT and Abot-Alam Program (P1.7 billion), Basic Education Madrasah Program (P535 million), and financial support (P7.45 billion) to needy students, including the Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (GASTPE) and scholarship programs of various agencies. DepEd has allocated P8.56 billion to hire 33,194 new teachers to attain the ideal 1:45 teacher to pupil ratio, and 1,500 new staff. A stand-by R655 million for Quick Response Funds has been allotted to school buildings and teaching equipment in the Visayas. Overall, the 2014 national budget is 13% or P258.7 billion higher than the 2013 budget. It is the country’s first Performance-Informed Budget, a landmark reform initiative that ties an agency’s overall budget to specific standards of performance and service delivery. With the details so explicitly in GAA, the public can demand greater accountability and efficiency from agencies, leading to citizen engagement and improved public service, Malacañang said.- | Tempo - News in a Flash

CLICK SOURCE: Department of Education gets biggest share of 2014 National Budget | Tempo - News in a Flash: "The Manila Bulletin, led by its Chairman of the Board of Directors Dr. Emilio T. Yap, President and Publisher Atty. Hermogenes P. Pobre, Executive Vice President Dr. Emilio C. Yap III, Editor-in-Chief Dr. Cris J. Icban Jr., Business Editor Loreto D. Cabañes, Directors, Officers and Employees congratulate H.E., President Benigno S. Aquino III, Senate President Franklin M. Drilon, House of Representatives Speaker Feliciano R. Belmonte Jr., Department of Education Secretary Bro. Armin A. Luistro, and Department of Budget and Management Florencio B. Abad, for their joint efforts to come up with the 2014 budget for the education sector – the biggest in history – that is designed to better serve the needs of young people for relevant, quality education of our Filipino people in the Republic of the Philippines. CONGRATULATIONS AND MABUHAY!"



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