The Department of Education (DepEd) is encouraging students to write on their textbooks and bring them home, as the agency moves to improve access to learning materials and shift away from a practice where books are passed on to multiple batches of learners, Education Secretary Sonny Angara said Monday.
Angara made the statement during the House Committee on Appropriations hearing on DepEd’s proposed 2027 budget, in response to Representative Edgar Erice’s questions on the availability of textbooks and other learning materials.
He said that the DepEd inherited a situation where a single textbook was shared by as many as four batches of students.
“’Yung nabutan po kasi namin, yung isang textbook ay sini-share at pinapasa ng apat na batches ng mga bata. Kaya sinasabihan ’yung bata, ’Wag sulatan ’yung textbook, ’wag iuwi, dahil ipapasa pa niya ’yon’,” he shared.
(So our goal is, what we inherited was a situation where one textbook was shared and passed on to four batches of children. That’s why students were told, ‘Don’t write in the textbook, don’t bring it home, because it will still be passed on.’)
“So ang goal talaga natin is one textbook, one learner, Your Honor, and we’re on our way to meet that,” Angara said.
(So the real goal is one textbook, one learner, Your Honor, and we’re on our way to meet that.)
He said this sometimes meant that students in the fourth batch received books that were already badly worn.
DepEd’s goal, Angara said, is to eventually provide one textbook for every learner.
Write on books
Angara said the DepEd is also expanding supplementary learning materials, including books in school libraries that students can take home.
“At dadagdagan din po natin yung supplementary learning materials, which is not just the textbooks na doon sa mga klase ng mga bata, pati yung mga libro na nasa library at puwede silang iuwi-uwi ito,” Angara said.
(And we will also increase the supplementary learning materials, which are not just the textbooks used in the students’ classes, but also the books in the library that they can bring home.)
He added that students were previously discouraged from bringing library books home because teachers could be charged when books went missing.
“Dahil dati hindi na iuwi ito dahil china-charge sa teacher pag nawawala. So ayaw ng teacher pauwi. Pero ngayon hindi na natin ganoon ang polisiya. They’re free to bring it home and they’re free to write also.”
(Because before, they couldn’t bring them home because the teacher would be charged if they went missing. So teachers didn’t want them brought home. But now that is no longer our policy. They’re free to bring it home and they’re free to write also.)
Angara also mentioned that DepEd is encouraging students to write in their learning materials, citing studies on handwriting and memory retention
“We’re encouraging them to write because there are studies which show that handwriting aids memory retention, Your Honor,” he added.
‘Improved textbook procurement’
The DepEd chief also shared that the agency has made progress in procuring textbooks.
He cited an EDCOM finding that only a little over 27 textbooks had been procured over the previous 10 years, while DepEd had procured 105 out of 105 titles in 2026.
“In 2026, we procured 105 out of 105 titles, Your Honor. Ang challenge na lang namin is i-deliver on time.”
(In 2026, we procured 105 out of 105 titles, Your Honor. Our remaining challenge is to deliver them on time.)
Angara said textbooks previously arrived as much as a year late, but DepEd is working on early procurement to shorten delays.
“Pero I think before 2028, makuha na natin ’yon, because we are working on early procurement, Your Honor.”
(But I think before 2028, we will achieve that, because we are working on early procurement, Your Honor.)
On Monday, DepEd presented a P975.96-billion proposed budget for fiscal year 2027, including allocations for its attached agencies, before the House Committee on Appropriations, according to the department’s press release. It is appealing for an additional P145.19 billion for critical DepEd programs not funded under the 2027 NEP.
Under the proposed NEP allocation, Personnel Services would rise 8.64% to P766.74 billion, while MOOE would decline 15.94% to P174.32 billion and Capital Outlay would fall 67.49% to P32.34 billion. –NB, GMA News
