MANILA – Public school teachers who hold distance-learning classes are provided with budgetary support, a Department of Education (DepEd) official said Friday.
In a Viber message to reporters, DepEd Undersecretary for Finance Annalyn Sevilla said a cash allowance of PHP5,000 is allotted for teachers with a teaching load for the current school year.
The 2021 General Appropriations Act (GAA 2021) has allocated PHP4.37 billion for this purpose.
“The appropriated PHP5,000 cash allowance shall cover the following: annual medical and physical examination expense; Internet and other communication expenses; and purchase of teaching supplies and materials, tangible or intangible, for the implementation or conduct of various modes of learning delivery,” Sevilla said.
She was reacting to Senator Sherwin Gatchalian’s proposal to limit distance learning to urban or high-risk areas as “not all of the 900,000 public school teachers have the luxury of buying Internet.”
Apart from the cash allowance given directly to the teachers, Sevilla said the department has funds for its Basic Education Learning Continuity Plan, which includes the school and maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE), provision of self-learning modules, computerization program, and human resource development.
For fiscal year 2021, the MOOE has an additional PHP4 billion on top of the PHP28 billion regular fund that would cover the purchase of face masks, face shields, alcohol, and disinfectants, among others.
Moreover, the budget for self-learning modules is PHP16.6 billion; for DepEd’s computerization program, PHP5.98 billion; and for human resource development, PHP1.8 billion. (PNA)
