THE SENATE will assess the readiness of the Department of Education to continue implementing distance learning, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said on Friday.

The congressional assessment comes following the Commission on Audit report flagging the use by DepEd of P8.1 billion funds allotted for the Basic Education Learning Continuity Plan.

Among the deficiencies flagged by state auditors are lapses in the budget utilization, non or incomplete submission of the required documents, and other deficiencies in disbursements and procurements.

Gatchalian filed Senate Resolution 739 to assess if basic education institutions can deliver quality education for the next school year, whether through face-to-face classes, distance learning, or other alternative delivery modes.

“Ngayong pinaghahandaan natin ang pagbubukas ng panibagong school year, nais nating matiyak na handa ang DepEd na makapaghatid ng dekalidad na edukasyon habang nagpapatuloy ang pandemya. Dapat ay natuto na tayo mula sa karanasan natin ng nakaraang taon upang maiwasan ang mga naging problema sa pagpapatupad ng distance learning,” the senator said.

COA also cited the flawed, incomplete, and delayed procurement, reproduction, and delivery of self-learning modules, considered as the backbone of distance learning.

The delays were attributed to factors such as deficient planning, poor monitoring of deliveries, and suppliers’ failure to complete the requirements on time.

State auditors added that the non-availability of the modules on the period in which it is supposed to be used deprived students of better learning opportunities and hampered the continuity of the learning process.

The COA report added that five regional offices were not able to fully adhere to prescribed specifications for the SLMs, which resulted in poor printing quality.

The DepEd, responding to the COA report, emphasized that none of the initial findings pertained to corruption, malversation of public funds, negligence, or betrayal of public trust.