ROXAS: BUDGET FOR SCHOOL BUILDINGS INCREASED TO P8 BILLION

If there's any bright spot in the 2009 budget, Liberal President Senator Mar Roxas said it was the increase in the budget for the construction of school buildings, from P3 billion to P8 billion.

The Chairman of the Senate Education Committee said this amount would lead to the construction of 10,666 classrooms, thereby helping improve the studying environment of children. The student-to-classroom ratio now stands at 65 per class or 90 and above per class in extreme cases.

Figures from the Department of Education show that the classroom requirement backlog in school year 2006-2007 reached 74,115.

"Hindi natin puwedeng pabayaan ang edukasyon ng ating kabataan sa panahon ng krisis. Para sa akin, mahalaga ang kinabukasan ng ating kabataan (we can't neglect our children's education at this time of crisis. Our children's future is important)," he said.

"Siyempre, kailangan nating bantayan nang husto ang implementasyon ng programang ito para hindi mapunta sa bulsa ng kung kani-kanino lamang ang pondong dapat ay para sa kinabukasan ng kabataan natin (Of course, we have to watch this program's implementation closely. Funds for the future of our youth should not just end up in somebody else's pockets)," he stressed, noting the World Bank report on corruption in construction bidding.

The DepEd's schoolbuilding program got a P2 billion allocation under the 2009 budget ratified by Congress. The Office of the Secretary (OSEC), on the other hand, was given an additional P562.5 million to augment its existing budget of P3.2 billion for the construction of new buildings.

Another P3 billion was appropriated for the program to be sourced from the economic stimulus fund which Congress included to cushion the impact of the global financial meltdown on the local economy.

Roxas said it's about time that the government spent more for education, as it had been under-spending on the sector for decades now: only 2.5% to 3% of gross domestic product (GDP) compared to the global norm of 5% to 6%.

He also said that aside from minimizing the classroom gap and helping improve education outcomes, a larger school building program would pump-prime the economy by creating more jobs in the construction sector.

Roxas earlier filed the proposed Omnibus Education Reform Act (Senate Bill No. 2294) that seeks a holistic approach in improving the country's education system.