Photo Release

Pia leads hearing on DepEd budget: Sen. Pia S. Cayetano presides over the hearing of Finance Subcommittee D on the 2024 proposed budgets of the Department of Education (DepEd) and its attached agencies Monday, September 4, 2023. For next year, DepEd Office of the Secretary has a proposed budget under the National Expenditure Program of P712.4 billion. Stressing that the proposed P12 billion budget for textbooks will not be enough to cover the need of all grade levels, Cayetano pushed for the digitalization of textbooks. “... you should really study at this point the option of digitalizing these books. I know you said you’ve already started the discussions, and the initial concerns are their copyright and how will they be compensated. But these are obstacles that we need to find solutions to because at the end of the day, it is also a sustainable model,” Cayetano said. She added that with e-textbooks, there will be no need to spend for paper and errors will be easier to correct. Usec. Michael Poa committed to talk to publishers and to provide senators an update on the procurement of e-textbooks before the plenary discussion on the budget. (Photo credit: Office of Sen. Pia Cayetano/ Senate PRIB)