Thursday, October 02, 2008 P110.6M in computers, ICT equipment in CV left unused
SOME P110.6 million worth of computer and multi-media equipment for public schools in Central Visayas are being left to rot or are underutilized.
The Commission on Audit’s (COA) 2007 report on the financial transactions of the Department of Education (DepEd) showed that a staggering P667.95 million worth of information and communication technology (ICT) and multi-media equipment was not used or maximized in 13 different regions.
“They were either defective or distributed to schools which were not strictly selected in accordance with the approved criteria, resulting in the wasteful storage or utilization of the units,” the auditors said.
They identified only the division of Bohol with unused and underused computer equipment totaling to P110,594,540.
COA remarked that the ICT and multi-media equipment delivered to Bohol did not follow the approved criteria under the “Personal Computers (PC) for Public Schools Project.”
State auditors further noted that some of the P110.6 million worth of computers in Bohol were used for administrative purposes rather than in classrooms.
COA also said that some 33,766 compact disks lacked content evaluation, and the software installed in the computers were not “user-friendly” and not appropriate for the recipient grade levels, resulting in the underutilization of the computers.
Unused
Computers delivered to island municipalities were not used entirely because the recipient schools did not have any electricity for them to run the computers.
Based on the analysis of state auditors, a big number of unnecessarily stored computer units were because of the DepEd’s non-compliance with the selection criteria for recipient schools.
Among the requirements of the DepEd are the availability of at least one IT teacher, funds available for computer repairs, and a room with electricity suitable to accommodate computers.
In order to immediately address the problem of underused computers and multi-media equipment, COA suggested the creation of a Monitoring and Feedback Unit that would oversee the proper implementation of the “PCs for Public Schools” program.
Recommendation
It also suggested that DepEd regional offices should also oversee the strict implementation of the program’s selection criteria of schools. DepEd regional offices should also validate the compliance of the congressmen-recommended schools with the selection criteria before computer units are delivered to the schools.
DepEd 7 officer-in-charge Recaredo Borgonia explained to Sun.Star Cebu that some of the schools in Bohol have become recipients of computer units through the help of congressmen, and oftentimes the DepEd 7 cannot keep track if all recipient schools follow the set criteria.
“As far as I know, there are some schools assisted through congressmen and through the Pdaf (Priority Development Assistance Fund). Mostly, the assistance comes from the congressmen. There are so many programs for ICT, in most cases these programs are of the congressmen and it is given to the DepEd to implement,” said Borgonia.
However, Borgonia said that aside from Bohol, all other computer units and multi-media equipment were properly utilized throughout the region.
“In Region 7, we can check on the utilization of computer units because we have the running IT program. And right now, we are teaching our teachers IT and to use the computers,” said Borgonia.
Borgonia added that he would also look into the issue of the underutilization of computers in Bohol and address the matter immediately. (EPB)
