EDCOM urges DepEd to review ‘uneven’ SDOs, policy amendments

The Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) instructed the Department of Education (DepEd) to review the policy on the establishment of the School Division Offices (SDOs) after finding out the ‘uneven’ distribution across the country.

In a hearing of the commission and DepEd on Oct. 29, the large disparities were found in the number of the schools supervised and supported by each of the more than 200 SDOs presented, resulting in the uneven resources, personnel, and support available in schools ‘even within the same DepEd sizes.’

DepEd Secretary Sonny Angara, who was present in the hearing clarified the concern on the number of the schools in a school being supervised. 

“I think the opinion is that 1,300 schools [in Leyte and Cebu] is too much for one official to oversee – that’s the crux of it,” he said. 

A study stated that, for instance,  Leyte, being the largest SDOs nationwide, manages 1,363 schools, while the largest SDO Caloocan City only manages 319 schools. 

Meanwhile, the country’s largest division Cebu supervises 1,346 schools, in contrast to the smallest division Batanes with only 28 schools. 

The commission also further highlighted the difference of the staff-to-student ratio, with SDOs Quezon and Iloilo ranging the largest ratio of 1:36, and 1:30, and SDOs San Fernando City and Batanes having smaller ratios of 1:148, and 1:9, respectively.

From the results, the EDCOM 2 Commissioner Roman Romulo questioned if the DepEd would address these disparities, urging whether a law that establishes a new school division should be passed or not or if DepEd can do it independently.

DepEd responded to the commission’s question, noting the restriction on creating new SDOs even if the provinces or cities show an increase in student population or number of schools ‘established within their jurisdictions.’

This pressed to look into the Republic Act 9155 or Governance of Basic Education Act of 2001, citing in Section 7 that “a division shall consist of a province or a city which shall have a schools division superintendent” holding the responsibilities including hiring and evaluation of all division supervisors, school district supervisors, and even teaching and non-teaching personnel.

Furthermore, the RA 9155 emphasized its Central Office retains the authority to impose national education standards and policies, while its regional office ensures the compliance with these matters. 

Romulo asked Angara and the DepEd to submit recommendations to the possible amendment of the RA 9155 and its budgetary support needed.

EDCOM 2 Co-Chair Senator Loren Legarda reminded DepEd to coordinate with other agencies to ensure resource allocation for new created school divisions. 

“Remember, when we legislate this, we will need to coordinate closely with the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for the availability of plantilla positions when we create a new division”, she said.