Senator Joel Villanueva is pushing for a measure which seeks to expand and maximize the use of the Special Education Fund (SEF) to assist schools in their needed resources and pave the way for better learning outcomes.
Senate Bill No. 2845 proposes to amend the Local Government Code to empower local school boards to use the funds for worthy educational initiatives such as training programs, payment of allowances, purchase of school equipment, among others.
“The lack of resources and infrastructure to support the ideal teaching and learning processes remain the most pressing issues hounding our educational system. One of the ways to address this is by increasing education spending to ensure better education outcomes,” Villanueva said.
“We can never go wrong when investing in education and the future of our learners,” Villanueva added.
SEF was established through Republic Act No. 5447 as a means for local government units through local school boards “to contribute to the financial support of the goals of education.” This is distinct from the budget being appropriated to the Department of Education every year.
At present, under the Local Government Code, the SEF is derived from the proceeds of the one percent (1%) tax on real property, which shall be allocated to the “operation and maintenance of public schools, construction, and repair of school buildings, facilities, and equipment, educational research, purchase of books and periodicals, and sports development.”
Under Villanueva’s bill, the utilization of SEF is expanded to include the following as determined and approved by the local school board:
– Operation of public elementary and secondary schools, informal and non-formal education programs, early childhood education, special education, senior high school, open high school programs, Madrasah classes and remedial classes;
– Compensation and authorized allowances, training, benchmarking and other benefits of teaching and non-teaching personnel;
– Acquisition of school sites or lands;
– Construction, repair and maintenance of school buildings and other facilities;
– Purchase and maintenance of school fixtures and equipment, including IT equipment;
– Purchase of learning materials;
– Programs for sports, youth formation and leadership development
The bill mandates local school boards to submit an annual report on the collection, allocation, and utilization of the SEF to the DOF, Congress and other relevant agencies.
“It is of utmost importance that continuous innovation and reforms be introduced given the various disruptions that affect learners. The expansion of the use of the SEF will allow the government to invest more in the education of future generations,” Villanueva said.
