The Department of Education (DepEd) on Thursday said it has sustained a multiyear increase in Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) allocations through the rollout of its simplified funding formula.
This comes as direct funding for public schools increased to PHP61.02 billion under the proposed 2027 National Expenditure Program (NEP).
This is still in line with the directives of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to advance quality education and ensure the welfare of learners and teachers.
In a statement, DepEd Secretary Sonny Angara said direct school funding revitalizes basic education.
“By simplifying our funding formulas and steadily expanding per-learner operational support, we are removing unnecessary bottlenecks so our school administrators and teachers can focus on teaching rather than worrying about basic school upkeep,” he said.
To date, the DepEd is fully implementing the Simplified Normative Funding Formula to make budget distribution faster and more equitable.
This system replaced the former allocation formula, which relied on fixed allocations based on multiple parameters that made computations detailed yet overly complex.
Instead of focusing on fixed per capita unit costs, the normative approach uses enrollment and baseline school data to ensure every school receives the operational funding needed to maintain basic service standards
Under the proposed 2027 NEP, the school operating budget reached PHP61.02 billion, higher than PHP60.89 billion allocated under the 2026 General Appropriations Act.
In particular, per-learner MOOE allocations for Kindergarten to Grade 6 will reach PHP2,982.
This is higher than PHP2,792 in 2026, PHP2,140 in 2025, and PHP1,389 in 2024.
Moreover, per learner MOOE allocations in Junior High Schools, those from Grades 7 to 10, will receive PHP2,744, up from PHP2,631 in 2026, PHP2,201 in 2025, and PHP1,844 in 2024.
Senior High Schools levels will see per-learner operational support hike to PHP3,558, higher than PHP3,264 in 2026, PHP2,784 in 2025, and PHP2,306 in 2024. (PNA)
