The Department of Education (DepEd) on Thursday said it earmarked P61.02 billion for direct operations funding for public schools nationwide under the proposed 2027 National Expenditure Program (NEP), up from the P60.89 billion allocation in 2026.
“President Bongbong Marcos’ directive is clear: we must ensure that every peso of our funding is felt and put to use by our teachers and learners in every school,” Education Secretary Juan Edgardo “Sonny” M. Angara said in Filipino in a news release.
Under the agency’s proposed 2027 budget, the Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) allocation for Kindergarten to Grade 6 students is set at P2,982 per learner, up from P2,792 in 2026 and more than double the P1,389 in 2024.
Junior High School allocation also increased to about 48%, raising it from P2,631 in 2026 to P2,744. For Senior High Schools, per-learner operational support is slated at P3,558 from P3,264 a year earlier.
DepEd noted that it is implementing the Simplified Normative Funding Formula (SNFF), a modernized budgeting framework, to streamline funding distribution across schools.
Compared to the previously used Boncodin Formula, which the agency said is ‘rigid’ and makes computations ‘overly complex’, the SNFF uses enrollment and baseline school data to compute the operational funding each school needs to maintain basic service standards.
“By simplifying our funding formulas and steadily expanding per-learner operational support, we are removing unnecessary bottlenecks so our school administrators and teachers can focus on teaching rather than worrying about basic school upkeep,” Mr. Angara said.
Schools use the MOOE fund for immediate operational needs aligned with their School Improvement Plan (SIP) and Annual Implementation Plan (AIP).
The MOOE budget per school is intended to cover payments for utilities and communication, classroom and office supplies, minor repairs, wages for school staff, and other school activities such as teacher training programs and graduation or moving-up ceremonies. — Almira Louise S. Martinez