ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro filed a Joint Resolution providing for a supplemental budget of P32 billion for the Department of Education, Department of Science and Technology, and selected State Universities and Colleges.

She said the additional budget will be used for the Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses of public schools.

“It is high time that the government prioritizes education. With the DepEd’s target of having 100% face-to-face classes by November this year, the government must ensure schools are capable of equipping themselves for the safe return of 100% in-person schooling. The demand of our teachers is to double the budget for MOOE of schools,” Castro said.

The budget allocation for the MOOE of DepEd schools for 2022 amounts to a total of P30,061,113,000 while P835.6 million was also appropriated under the DOST for the MOOE of the Philippine Science High School.

“We estimated that these amounts, plus around a billion pesos more, are needed so that all public basic education schools under the operation of the DepEd, its attached agency the PHSA, the DOST, and the state universities and colleges will be provided with the appropriate physical requirements including classrooms with adequate ventilation and air filtration, basic utilities like water, and facilities for handwashing and sanitation,” Castro said.

“For the longest time, our public expenditure on education as a percentage of our GDP remained below the higher limits of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization standards of at least 6% of the GDP, ” she said.

The lawmaker said that having ample budget will help address the education crisis in the country.