THERE is a law – Republic Act No. 5447 – enacted in 1969 with the objective of providing additional financial support for education facilities and services as provided by the Constitution. This law establishes the Special Education Fund (SEF) which is derived from the proceeds of a 1 percent tax on real property.
The SEF is allocated by the law for 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 in amounts determined by local school boards themselves.
Every town and city has a local school board, composed of the Education superintendent, the mayor, and other city or municipal officials, and together they decide on how to spend the Fund, which expenditures are allowed, by what amounts, etc. Since many localities need classrooms for the burgeoning population of students, the most common allocation of the SEF is for building and classroom construction.
‘The expansion of the use of the SEF will allow the government to invest more in the education of future generations.’
Sports development, while mentioned in the law, is relegated as a non-essential expense, and sports educators sometimes find it hard to convince the board to even allocate a budget for the schools’ participation in the Palarong Pambansa.
Another issue on the use of the SEF is the school’s sending of delegations to compete in the National Schools Press Conference (NSPC), where budding student journalists and writers nationwide compete in various activities related to school paper publishing, social media and the like. An important aspect of present-day schooling, this activity is second only in priority even in rich cities like Manila.
Lately, Sen. Joel Villanueva perhaps noticed the inequity in SEF spending. He is now pushing a measure that seeks to enable local school boards to use the SEF for worthy educational initiatives, such as training programs, payment of allowances, and purchase of school equipment, among others.
In pushing for Senate Bill No. 2845, Villanueva cited lack of resources and infrastructure to support the ideal teaching and learning processes which remain the most pressing issues hounding the country’s 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.”
SB 2845 seeks to expand SEF utilization to include elementary and secondary schools, informal education programs, early childhood education, special education, senior high school, open high school programs, Madrasah classes, and remedial classes.
The fund can also be used by local school boards for the 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 and learning materials; and programs for sports, youth formation, and leadership development.
The expansion of the use of the SEF will allow the government to invest more in the education of future generations. For check and balance, the bill also mandates local school boards to submit an annual report on the collection, allocation, and utilization of the SEF to the Department of Finance, Congress, and other relevant agencies.
