Textbooks
destroyed
by termites at DepEd
HUNDREDS of elementary science textbooks
were found ruined by termites at the Department of Education (DepEd)
main office in Pasig City Monday afternoon.
The discovery was made as DepED officials
including Education secretary Jesli Lapus were busy preparing
for the National Educators Congress to be held at the Teacher’s
Camp in Baguio City Tuesday.
The books, entitled "Science and Health,"
were intended for Grades 1 to 4 pupils. The batch also contained
Chemistry books and all were scattered on the floor of the DepEd
building in front of the parking lot.
Lapus said he has ordered an investigation on
the matter. He said it is the policy of the department to
immediately distribute all textbooks for the use of students. "I
have ordered Instructional Materials Council Secretariat
executive director Socorro Pilor to investigate the matter," he
said.
The textbooks should have been distributed
even before the school opening in line with Lapus’ order to
expedite their delivery.
DepEd is plagued every school year by the
lack of textbooks. Last October, the Commission on Audit
disclosed findings that DepEd had wasted millions of pesos of
its 2007 budget either through non-utilization, misallocation,
or purchase of inferior equipment.
The COA report also said that while the
number of undistributed textbooks went down in 2007, a total of
1,275,056 copies of unused textbooks or manuals worth at least
P57.3 million still remained stored in school stockrooms or
libraries in 2007.
COA also said DepEd wasted some P667.95
million worth of multi-media equipment packages that were
neither utilized nor maximized for classroom instructions in 13
regions because these were either defective or distributed to
schools which were not strictly selected in accordance with the
approved criteria.
The COA report also said that acute classroom shortages in
2,929 schools were also left unaddressed because school building
projects worth at least P597.796 million were spent instead on
1,329 school sites that had the least need for buildings and
classrooms. Likewise, 84,254 sets of tables and chairs and
150,748 armchairs costing P197 million were allocated to 2,777
elementary and 899 secondary schools that already had adequate
seats from 2004-2007 instead of giving them to 2,764 elementary
and secondary schools with acute seat shortages. – Ashzel
Hachero
