Learning materials and education facilities will get a major boost in the proposed 2024 National Expenditure Program, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said Monday.
Pangandaman said in a statement the Department of Education’s (DepEd) Basic Education Facilities (BEF) Program was given a significant 44-percent increase, receiving P33.755 billion from its P23.417-billion allocation in the 2023 General Appropriations Act.
“Through revitalized education, I aspire to provide every Filipino with a fighting chance to manage life’s uncertainties so they can choose to achieve their full potential,” Pangandaman said.
The program will focus on nine areas, including the construction of 7,879 new classrooms and technical vocational laboratories; the repair and rehabilitation of 10,050 classrooms; and the procurement of 21,557 sets of school desks, furniture, and fixtures.
It will also support the electrification of 432 classrooms and the construction of 333 priority school health facilities, three medium-rise school buildings, 72 library hubs, 16 Special Needs Education (SNED)- Inclusive Learning Resource Centers (ILRCs), and four Alternative Learning System (ALS) – Community Learning Centers (CLCs).
The projects will be implemented nationwide, including the underserved areas. Meanwhile, various infrastructure projects of state universities and colleges were also allocated P3.4 billion.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. earlier said that improving education facilities is essential to creating a conducive learning environment for all learners, including those in remote and hard-to-reach areas.