THE Department of Education has turned to the Ayala Foundation Inc. and Delivery Associates Australia Pty. Ltd to speed up the implementation of the department’s programs and projects that will ensure equitable access to basic education.
Education Secretary Sonny Angara said the agreement signed last Thursday would further reinforce the DepEd’s effort to prioritize programs that have the greatest impact on the delivery of quality basic education.
Angara said the first phase of the project will set “clear, measurable targets for DepEd’s education reform and establish a dedicated team to implement these targets.”
“As part of the agreement, Delivery Associates will conduct a rapid assessment of the agency’s current capacity to perform its programs and initiatives. Moreover, after the initial evaluation, it will also provide the DepEd with recommendations on what programs are needed to prioritize and align with the DepEd’s priority of providing quality education,” he added.
Angara said the two agencies will also assist the DepEd in setting up a dedicated team to focus on implementing the identified targets.
“This team will have a clear structure, staffing plan, and accountability mechanisms,” the DepEd chief said.
Signing the agreement with Angara were Josh Wiseman, Delivery Associates Representative, Ayala Foundation President Antonio Joselito Lambino II, and Head of Strategy Impact Maria Margarita Trinidad.
The DepEd has been dogged by the late delivery of projects and education equipment under the previous administrations.
During the Senate deliberation on the DepEd’s 2025 budget in September, Angara disclosed that some of the laptops procured by the department that have been stuck in warehouses since 2020 included units purchased in 2017.
Besides laptops, Angara said an undisclosed number of school furniture and textbooks have also been gathering dust in warehouses since the COVID-19 pandemic.
State auditors have also flagged the DepEd for the delayed implementation of regular and milk-feeding requirements in its P5.69 billion School-Based Feeding Program during the final year of Vice President Sara Duterte as DepEd chief.
In a 2022 report, state auditors flagged DepEd for its failure to distribute some P1.2 billion worth of science and mathematics equipment to public schools nationwide.
