SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian has filed a resolution seeking an inquiry that will assess the Department of Education’s procurement of textbooks and other learning materials.

Gatchalian filed proposed Senate Resolution No. 972 following the findings of the Second Congressional Commission on Education in its Year One report, which revealed that since the K to 12 curriculum’s introduction in 2013, the DepEd only managed to procure 27 textbook titles out of the 90 required for Grades 1 to 10.

The EDCOM also found that only learners in Grades 5 and 6 have complete sets of textbooks for all subjects.

During the EDCOM II consultation with the DepEd, the National Book Development Board and groups of private textbook publishers identified several procurement issues such as insufficient development time and a prolonged review process. Other issues include high participation costs and pricing issues.

The EDCOM report also flagged the low utilization of the budget allocated for textbooks and other instructional materials.

Between 2018 and 2022, more than P12.6 billion was allocated for textbooks and other instructional materials. However, only 35.3%, or P4.47 billion of this allocation was obligated and only 7.5%, or P951.9 million was disbursed.

Based on the results of the Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics 2019 (SEA-PLM 2019), eight in 100 Grade 5 Filipino learners shared their language and mathematics textbooks with more than two students.

Furthermore, results of the SEA-PLM 2019 revealed that compared to those with their textbooks, learners who shared their textbooks scored five points lower in Mathematics and Writing, and six points lower in Reading.

“Sa gitna ng pagsisikap nating iangat ang kalidad ng edukasyon ng ating bansa, mahalagang tiyakin natin ang pagkakaroon ng sapat na aklat para sa bawat mag-aaral. Napapanahong masuri natin kung paano matutugunan ang mga hamong kinakaharap ng ating sistema ng edukasyon pagdating sa kakulangan ng mga aklat,” said Gatchalian, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Basic Education.

Ahead of the expected rollout of the MATATAG curriculum starting School Year 2024-2025, the DepEd has committed to deliver 80% of textbooks for Grades 1, 4, and 7 by July 2024.