EDCOM 2: DepEd to address teacher mismatch, quizzed on low utilization rate in House budget hearing
September 4, 2024
EDCOM 2: DepEd to address teacher mismatch, quizzed on low utilization rate in House budget hearing
Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Sonny Angara indicated the department's plan to modify its hiring form to indicate the subject which prospective teachers will be assigned to. This is after a Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) report that 62% of teachers are handling subjects that they did not major in college.
During the House Committee on Appropriations hearing on the DepEd budget on August 2, EDCOM 2 Co-Chairperson Rep. Roman Romulo prodded that the subject-teacher mismatch is partly because of the form used by the Department for hiring.
"When you hire, ang posting po ninyo ay 'Teacher 1'. Hindi niyo sinasabi kung ano 'yung subject. And that is why a History major in college applies for that, pagdating nila, bigla na lang ang ipapaturo niyo ay Filipino", Romulo remarked.
"Babaguhin po namin 'yun", Sec. Angara said.
"Babaguhin niyo yung form? So that every teacher who applies will know kung ano ba yung subject na ituturo niya. That is correct", Rep. Romulo agreed.
EDCOM 2 findings presented in an August 29 hearing of the House Basic Education Committee found that 98% of teachers teaching Physical Sciences, or Physics, did not have a background in the field. Likewise, 51% of Science teachers did not match the specialization they studied during college.
The EDCOM 2 findings also follow a World Bank finding in 2016 that highlighted the low content knowledge of high school teachers. When tested in English and Math Grade 10 teachers scored below 50% in both domains, and below 30% in Filipino and Science.
EDCOM 2 Executive Director Dr. Karol Mark Yee highlighted the need to have a mechanism to align specializations needed in public schools to those offered in colleges and universities, which is the domain of the Commission on Higher Education.
Inefficiency, low utilization rate quizzed
DepEd faced intense scrutiny during its 2025 budget hearing in the House of Representatives during the budget hearing, as it was revealed that nearly ?9 billion worth of laptops and e-learning equipment intended for 2023 remained undelivered.
The delays in delivering essential ICT resources were seen by Batangas 2nd District Rep. Gerville Luistro as a factor contributing to the Philippines' low PISA scores, which are administered as computer-based tests. During the hearing, DepEd ICT Director Ferdinand Pitagan revealed that the current student-to-computer ratio is an alarming 1:9, while the teacher-to-computer ratio is even worse at 1:30. These were further highlighted in the 2023 COA report, which revealed a budget utilization rate of just 50.07% for the DepEd Computerization Program (DCP), with no significant accomplishments reported for the year.
In addition to the ICT challenges, DepEd also had significant setbacks in its classroom construction and infrastructure projects for 2023. According to the Commission on Audit (COA), DepEd only completed 192 classrooms out of the target 6,379 rooms for the year.
The DepEd's efforts to repair and rehabilitate classrooms fell significantly short. Out of the 7,550 classrooms slated for repair, only 208 were completed. The remaining classrooms are either still under repair (2,135) or pending procurement (5,207). The total cost associated with these unmet targets under the Basic Education Facilities Fund (BEFF) is estimated at ₱816 million.
House Committee on Appropriations Senior Vice Chairperson Rep. Stella Quimbo also expressed frustration over the slow utilization of regular DepEd funds under Duterte's tenure, contrasting it with the swift disbursement of confidential funds. Quimbo pointed out that, according to the 2023 COA report, ₱37.7 billion in funds were delayed or not implemented across various programs.
"This is a big crisis; we cannot waste funds, we cannot waste time. It's saddening that when it comes to the COA report, one of the biggest findings in 2023 was low utilization, meaning slow use of funds, leading to wasted funds and wasted time," Quimbo remarked.
Photo courtesy: House of Representatives (www.congress.gov.ph)
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