THE COMPUTERIZATION  program of the Department of Education will have a bigger budget next year, an official said.

The program will be given P11.3 billion, double the amount allocated last year. The program aims to provide relevant ICT packages and IT infrastructure in public schools.

The department’s 2022 National Expenditure Program was presented at the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

Undersecretary for Finance Annalyn Sevilla said that DepEd will get a budget of P629.8 billion next year.

“Overall, we have a six percent increase compared to this year’s budget. The increase actually is more on the PS or the Personnel Services,” Sevilla said.

For 2022, Personnel Service was allocated P513 billion, P96.6 billion for Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses, and P19.7 billion for Capital Outlay.

Sevilla said that the Government Assistance and Subsidies, including the Senior High School voucher program and funds for the Operation of Schools received higher funding for next year.

“These are the School MOOE or the budget that will go directly to our schools, and we thank the Department of Budget and Management for increasing the MOOE at the level of 9.41 percent for Senior High School, 7.5 percent for Junior High School, and 6.4 percent for our Elementary Schools,” she added.

The budget for New School Personnel Positions will also enjoy a 31 percent increase for 2022, as P20 billion will be allocated for additional 10,000 teaching items, while the Human Resource Development fund will receive P1.89 billion.

DepEd also appropriated P358 million for the newly created program called the Priority School Health Facilities in response to the Covid19 pandemic.