ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro on Wednesday slammed the Department of Education for misprioritization of its budget, citing its P150 million confidential fund amid shortages in classrooms, learning materials, school facilities and teachers.

The confidential fund came to light during the budget deliberations at the House of Representatives.

DepEd Secretary Sara Duterte-Carpio justified the unprecedented budget allocation for the confidential fund to combat sexual grooming, drugs, terrorism, and even notional ‘active shooters’ and ended by invoking national security.

The DepEd also maintained its plan to impose mandatory ROTC.

“It appears that the DepEd Secretary intends to militarize the education agency,” Castro said.

“Nabanggit kanina na malaki ang bilang ng kakulangan sa mga classroom. Ayon din mismo sa mga guro natin na kulang na kulang ang learning materials. Our schools are forced to conduct 2-3 shifting classes per day just to cater to the number of students because of the perennial shortages in facilities and learning materials,” she said.

“We will continue to scrutinize the budget of the Department of Education and demand adequate funds for facilities, learning materials, and support for our teachers to address the worsening learning crisis in the country,” De Castro stressed.