Friday, May 02, 2008 Education chief confident of keeping post
AMID talks of an impending Cabinet revamp, Education Secretary Jesli Lapus is optimistic he will remain in his post as he spoke on some of the reforms made under his stewardship.
Lapus assured that he will not be affected by the Cabinet reshuffle that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo herself announced last Monday with Malacañang reporters.
"Would you replace the number one public approval rated agency head?" Lapus said.
The official was referring to a Pulse Asia survey released last month recognizing the Department of Education (DepEd) as one of the top performing departments in the government.
One of the so-called reforms and "headways" that Lapus said takes place during his watch was the marked increase in enrollment in preschool, elementary and secondary schools in the country with the figures nearing the 20 million mark last year.
He also lauded the implementation of the Food for School program saying it was vital in reducing the incidence of malnutrition in the pre-school and elementary level with malnutrition level showing a decrease from the 21 percent in 2006 to 17 percent last year.
This resulted in an improved school attendance from 90 percent in 2006 to 95 percent in 2007.
Earlier, the education secretary said they will continue with the program despite the rice shortage crisis that hit the country in recent months.
Another successful project is the 14,600 new classrooms constructed and 10,600 classrooms repaired in 2007 compared to the usual target of 6,000 classrooms per year, Lapus said.
He also claimed that the number of new teacher items created, under his watch, reached a high of more than 16,000 in 2007, the highest number in years while the number of principal items opened totaled 3,479 in 2006-2007.
Likewise, he said the book procurement process was revised resulting in a reduced cost of textbooks by half and is expected to go down further.
According to Lapus, the DepEd's five-level procurement program has been cited in international circles including the World Bank as a best practice.
On Wednesday, DepEd also announced additional funding worth P1 million each to the country's 17 Regional Science High Schools (RSHS) to augment their Maintenance and Operating Expenses (MOE) while allocating a further P2,000 for every student enrolled in the RSHS.
"In view of these accomplishments, DepEd has received a record positive 61 percent approval rating from Pulse Asia surveys. DepEd is now recognized as one of the top performing departments of the government," Lapus said.
Reports claimed that Lapus is on his way out of DepEd with former senator Tessie Aquino-Oreta taking the education portfolio.
Arroyo is reportedly set to appoint Oreta with the lapse of the one-year ban for appointment to government position for losing candidates during last year's senatorial elections.
Meanwhile, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), reacting to the rumor of Oreta's impending appointment as education secretary, "vehemently denounced the shameless politicization of DepEd under this administration."
"In eight years, Mrs. Arroyo has appointed four people to the DepEd secretary position. Unfortunately, political payback to the varied personalities and blocs under Malacañang's wing has been the main consideration in these appointments, rather than the best interest of the basic education sector," ACT chairman Antonio Tinio said.
Tinio said the revolving door mechanism implemented by the President resulted in a lack of continuity in the leadership of DepEd and impacting on the meaningful pursuit of reforms in the education sector.
In a related development, the DepEd- National Employees Union also aired the union's concern on the Arroyo government's obviously "playing political accommodation" at the expense of the education sector.
Union president Domingo Alidon said the union is in full support of Lapus, acknowledging the various reforms and innovations at DepEd initiated under Lapus leadership. (AH/Sunnex)
