World Bank extending $110-million loan to DepEd

MANILA, Philippines — The World Bank is extending a $110-million loan to the Department of Education (DepEd) early next year to finance the agency’s non-formal schooling programs.

The bank’s Washington-based board is expected to approve in February 2022 the financing for DepEd’s project called Strengthening Alternative Learning System (ALS) for All, World Bank documents showed.

The loan is aimed at improving “service delivery of the ALS and learners’ outcomes in selected community learning centers” nationwide, the World Bank said.

Specifically, DepEd sought the financing to address critical challenges in learning and teaching conditions, facilities and equipment, teachers, assessments and certifications, as well as the overall capacity of the Bureau of Alternative Education (BAE), the World Bank said.

Republic Act No. 11510, signed by President Rodrigo Duterte in December last year, institutionalized the ALS and established the BAE, which the World Bank said would be operating starting late this year or early 2022.Different modes

At present, DepEd’s ALS has 9,000 mobile teachers and district coordinators, on top of volunteers in some local government units (LGUs) and non-government partners, such as churches, non-government organizations, and universities.

“ALS learning interventions are predominantly delivered through face-to-face interactions at community learning centers (CLCs) using paper-based learning modules. These CLCs come in different forms, ranging from open-air spaces under a tree, private properties, or public spaces owned by LGUs and public schools. In addition, where feasible, ALS classes were offered via computer-based learning (eSkwela) and radio-based instructions,” the World Bank noted.

According to the World Bank, ALS programs have been effectively delivered in geographic areas where education faced significant risks due to conflicts, natural calamities, or remoteness with limited access to information and communication technologies (ICT) infrastructure, and internet connectivity.

The World Bank cited the ALS for having provided education opportunities among residents of the war-torn Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) “who had been deprived of access to formal education due to the decadeslong armed conflict and civil unrest.”

Damning report

On top of the forthcoming loan for DepEd’s ALS, the World Bank’s near-term lending pipeline for the Philippines included the $110-million financing for the Teacher Effectiveness and Competencies Enhancement Project aimed at improving “the quality of and equitable access to teaching in Kindergarten to Grade 6 in project-supported regions” also up for approval next year.

Back in July, following demands from Education Secretary Leonor Briones and Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, the World Bank apologized for the ahead-of-schedule publication of its report, which had been based on the latest global education assessments wherein the country participated prior to the pandemic.

The controversial World Bank report, which was also taken down from the lender’s website, had said that Filipino students’ low scores in recent global mathematics and science assessment examinations reflected a “poor school climate” in the country where students had difficulty understanding lessons taught in English, and further aggravated by campus violence, such as bullying.

Briones then demanded an apology from the multilateral lender, claiming it did not follow protocol in releasing the report and that the figures cited in the study were outdated.

“The country was insulted and shamed,” she said.

Dominguez also criticized the bank for its “lack of professionalism.”

“We deeply regret that the report on education was inadvertently published earlier than scheduled and before the Department of Education had enough chance to provide inputs,” the World Bank said in a statement.

Despite the apology, however, the World Bank did not retract the report’s findings.