It’s the same old story. The budget of the Department of Education (DepED) is never enough to meet even the most basic needs of public school students.

“Our budget is not adequate to address our needs. It is even aggravated by inflation, the cost of construction materials are rising,” DepED secretary Jesli Lapus today said during the budget briefing of the House of Representatives.

Even if it’s the biggest allocation to a government department, DepED’s P167 billion is only about half of what the department asked (P259 billion) to address the needs of the agency, he said.

Unless the budget is augmented, it means that there will be no funding for the seats of 3 million pupils, for 33 million textbooks and instruction materials, for over 1,500 additional classrooms needed, and for about 30,000 additional teachers and 6,500 principals required.

While the 2009 budget is 13 percent higher than the 2008 budget, the additional budget went to personnel services or the salaries of the teachers.It is a result of Malacanang’s order to increase the salaries of government officials by 10 percent. It increased by 19 percent from the 2008 budget.

Overall, the budget for salaries account for 81 percent of DepED’s budget. “If we just give DepED the personnel budget, it would still get the biggest budget.”

DepED personel consists of about one-third of the government bureaucracy.

The budget for capital outlay and miscellaneous and operating expenses—which covers the construction of new buildings, books, and furniture— actually decreased by seven percent and 15 percent, respectively.

Lapus lamented how the Philippine budget for education is way below the international norm. Citing a World Bank study, Lapus said countries allot six percent of the gross domestic product to education. The DepED only accounts for two percent of the Philippines GDP.

Aside from furniture and infrastructure, Lapus identified the following as the biggest challenges for DepED: increasing participation by reaching the unschooled, retaining those in school, raising the proficiency level of those in school, and increasing internal efficiency and effectiveness.