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As the opening of classes nears, the Department of
Education gets a timely boost as the Australian Government has
earmarked approximately P494 million to the agency to provide larger
financial support for the department’s Basic Education Basic
Sector Reform Agenda (Besra).
Education Secretary Jesli Lapus
gladly welcomed the support from the Australian government, saying
that it is crucial to the successful implementation of Besra, a
package of policy reforms that aims to put in place an education
system that is able to deliver a sustainable quality education for
all Filipino children.
Australian Ambassador to the
Philippines Rod Smith even made it more interesting, saying that
through the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID),
the support of the Australian government to improve basic education
in the Philippines will increase in the next four years based on the
progressive performance in implementing the reform agenda.
“The incentive-based
performance is focused on improving resource allocation to schools,
including performance-based management of teachers. Also up for
performance review are the internal audit and reporting capacity of
the Education department’s division and regional offices as well
as improvements in medium-term planning, budget allocation and
budget execution,” Lapus said.
In 2007, AusAID released funds
for initiatives to accelerate the introduction of the reform agenda
and provide for a sustainable framework for improved access to
quality education.
The Australian government’s
official development assistance to the Philippines for 2008 to 2009
is estimated to reach P4.4 billion, with almost 40 percent going to
basic education.
Australia, through AusAID, is one
of the top three bilateral donors outside of the US Aid for
International Development and the Japan International Cooperation
Agency. These official development assistance organizations provide
financial assistance to developing countries in the form of grant
packages.
According to AusAID, Besra is a
vibrant framework that can deliver sustainable quality of education
for Filipino children. It observed, however, that the basic issues
of learning space, quality materials, relevant curriculum,
well-trained teachers and efficient management system could still be
improved.
--James Konstantin Galvez
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