Some good news

These are still plans but best to stay positive and wish for more of these types of good news not only to be announced but to be truly implemented soon, for the good of our people.

 First, the good news about education.

 According to the emailed message from Dasmariñas City Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr., PNoy’s government has allotted P14.68 billion to build 41,381 new classrooms next year and another P2.879 billion to create and fill 13,000 extra teaching positions for the public school system.

 The allocation is part of the proposed 2012 Education budget (P31.5 billion), which has been prioritized by PNoy’s government. The proposed 2012 education budget will be 15.2 percent greater than the 2011 budget of P207.3 billion.

 Barzaga said Deped’s budget next year includes P17.4 billion for the Basic Educational Facilities Fund (BEFF). The amount is 54 percent, or P6.1 billion, greater than the fund’s P11.3 billion allotment this year. The bulk of this fund will be for the construction of 40,208 additional classrooms under School Building Program for Areas with Acute Classroom Shortage. Some P1 billion will be spent to recondition 3,850 rundown classrooms; P1.54 billion to install 25,667 water and sanitation facilities in schools; and P1.045 billion to procure 2.47 million chairs under the School Furniture Program.

 Aside from THE BEFF, Bragaza reports that another P1 billion has been set aside for the Department of Public Works and Highways for 1,173 new classrooms and to acquire 56,304 chairs under the Regular School Building Program.

 The Deped is also set to spend another P2.625 billion for 45.5 million textbooks and teacher’s manuals.

 The tuition fee of some 1 million private high school students who cannot be accommodated by existing public schools due to lack of staff and resources will be subsidized by PNoy’s government  through the P6.286 billion PGASTPE (Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education) where DepEd enters into education service contracting with private high schools. In this plan, PNoy’s government pays the private school anywhere between P5,000 to P10,000 per student every year. For this year, GASTPE is subsidizing the tuition of 757,401 private high school students (about P5.83 billion).

 Now, to the next good news for our nurses and midwives.

 LPG/MA Rep. Arnel Ty emailed that the PNoy’s government plans to spend P1.686 billion next year to expand the Department of Health’s Doctors to the Barrio Program, to include the deployment of 13,000 additional nurses and midwives.

 According to Rep.Ty, “the enlarged Doctors to the Barrio Program will mobilize 200 physicians, 12,000 nurses, and 1,000 midwives to improve healthcare in underserved communities and will provide short-term work to our unemployed nurses and midwives.”

 Ty is author of House Bill 4582, seeking to establish a special employment plan for the nation’s jobless nurses, estimated at 290,000 by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC). His proposed Special Program for the Employment of Nurses in Urban and Rural Services (NURSE) would set out at least 10,000 practitioners every year who would each serve a six-month tour of duty and get a monthly stipend not lower than the amount commensurate to the higher starting pay for public nurses mandated by a 2002 law.

 The nurses under the expanded Doctors to Barrio Program are expected, among other duties, to help vaccinate 2.6 million children, aged 0 to 15 months, against tuberculosis (TB), diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio, measles, and rotavirus and to help inoculate 1.2 million senior citizens against flu and pneumonia, and to assist in carrying out the TB Control Program via the Directly Observed Treatment Short Course (DOTS) Strategy.

 Not only are these future plans welcomed. The plans carry much TRANSPARENCY that was markedly absent in the past. Transparency and honesty are refreshing sources of inspiration and hope for our people and our nation. May more of such transparent and sincere plans be truly realized soonest.

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