Monetization of education fund mulled

Governor Rodolfo Del Rosario is considering the possibility of monetizing the special education fund of the provincial government in order to source more funds for improving school facilities in Davao del Norte.
The governor said this is needful to improve the academic performance of school children in ensuring a better future for them.
“We are looking into the possibility of monetizing our SEF for us to be able to borrow money from the Land Bank and enable us to subsidize the construction of more school buildings, equipment and fixtures, textbooks, among other requirements of our public schools in the province,” Del Rosario said after receiving his award during the recent culmination of the Education Week held at the Molave Hotel, Tagum City.
Del Rosario was recognized as one of the awardees for his “unwavering support extended for the successful implementation of the various programs and projects of the DepEd Division of Davao del Norte” which have greatly improved basic education in the province.
“If we do not do our share in trying to improve the education of our children their future will not be ensured,” he stressed, assuring more support to the education sector.
Monetization has become a practice of local governments in generating resources for their programs and projects.
In 2000, while he was the president of the League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP) and the concurrent president of the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP), Gov. del Rosario pioneered the monetization of the unreleased internal  revenue allotment (IRA) intended for all the provinces of the country.
In 2007, del Rosario again joined all the governors in the country in allotting half of their monetized IRA for the government’s fertilizer subsidy program intended to mitigate the rice crisis during the year. 
Division Superintendent Dr. Aurora Cubero said the event aimed to reaffirm and emphasize the role of education in empoweing and developing the young to produce productive citizens of the country, as well as to strengthen cooperation among stakeholders, among other objectives.
She also thanked the province for augmenting the salaries of 67 percent of the locally-funded teachers within the division.