THE ALLIANCE of Concerned Teachers slammed the Department of Education for its questionable use of more than P8.1 billion funds allotted for the Learning Continuity Program, saying that the agency should be held accountable for such lapses.

The group also criticized DepEd’s “proud claims” that it has greatly improved its fund use since only half of the LCP budget of P15.5 billion was flagged by the Commission on Audit.

“Teachers had to literally empty their pockets and even take out loans to fill in the gaps not only in the funding for education but also in the delays and lapses in DepEd’s use of the same. Students’ welfare and rights suffered greatly in the further decline of education quality and access—all while DepEd pats itself on the back for the questionable use of ‘only’ P15-billion of people’s money,” Raymond Basilio, the group’s secretary general, said.

The COA report said that much of the flagged P8 billion had to do with the agency’s procurement of printed materials from suppliers who had limited capacity to print in bulk, which resulted in the delay, incomplete, or total non-availability of modules for School Year 2020–2021.

“Our public school teachers were forced to produce modules and other learning materials—meaning, to write their own and then reproduce them either by soliciting materials from private entities or by out-of-pocket funding, because of DepEd’s inefficiency to provide the needed resources on time. All the while our teachers are being deprived of their benefits and a justifiable salary increase. To deliberately procure module printing from unqualified suppliers is peak incompetency that not only burdened our overworked and underpaid teachers but, worse, denied millions of students access to quality education amid the pandemic and socio-economic crisis,” the group said.

ACT also noted DepEd’s failure to distribute the laptops and internet allowances of teachers which were funded by Bayanihan 2.

“DepEd must be held to account for all these. COA’s findings on irregularities in as much as half of the distance learning funds and in nearly all regions point to the fact that the main problem lies on DepEd’s policies and operations,” ACT said.

“With only three weeks left before a new school year starts, we expect DepEd to start reporting on its level of preparedness and the measures being taken to ensure that the major problems with last school year’s remote learning are being resolved and prevented from figuring again in the future. DepEd owes it to the public to announce in concrete terms how it is addressing the struggles faced by teachers and students, as well as the crises in education exposed and exacerbated in the time of the pandemic,” Basilio said.

ACT hailed COA for doing its mandate.

“COA is among the institutions that is necessary for checks and balances in the government. COA has our support as they continue to stand their ground, so we, the people, can hold this government to account,” Basilio said.