The Commission on Audit (COA) has raised concerns over the issuance of P5.7 million worth of devices to non-teaching personnel of the Department of Education (DepEd) in 2022 as it lamented that the devices could have been more beneficial if issued directly to schools.

In its annual audit report (AAR), the COA said that the National Capital Region’s School Division Office (NCR-SDO) in Caloocan City issued devices to officials and employees who are non-teaching personnel whose functions are administrative and supervisory in nature.

"Most of these devices are in the Media Center of the NCR-SDO Proper which is more accessible to SDO Proper personnel and not easily accessible to the learners, contrary to the provision under Part IV of DepEd Order No. 012, series of 2022. These devices could have been fully utilized by the learners if these were issued to the schools," the audit report stated.

COA said that DepEd justified that issuances saying all the devices were linked to an integrated learning management system in support of in person and blended learning.

It also said that DepEd pointed out that the media centers located in the SDO and four strategic schools have served well the purposes of distance learning where more than 300 videos in support of self-learning modules were developed and edited.

But COA said that when DepEd submitted copies of its logbook and the request form for the devices, it showed that the SDO Proper Media Center was used for recording video lessons, virtual meetings and seminars even prior to the procurement of the devices.

"It could be said that the use of equipment/devices issued to SDO Proper was not maximized in the implementation of Basic Education - Learning Continuity Plan (BE-LCP). Accordingly, the aim of providing learning resources to learners were not fully achieved," it said.

"The audit team believed that it would have been more beneficial had the questioned learning resources were issued/provided directly to the schools as these are more accessible to the teachers and students," COA pointed out.

Also, COA said it discovered "defects" in the educational tablets delivered to SDO Batangas worth P116,764,650. Some of the delivered tablets developed mechanical defects such as screen malfunction, unresponsive screens, and failure to load images upon boot-up, it said.

It also said some devices also had batteries that started to swell even though it was stored properly despite the typical estimated life of a Lithium-Ion battery is about two to three years or 300 to 500 charge cycles.

The defects, said the COA, are contrary to Section 2 of the Preliminary Title, General Provisions of Presidential Decree No. 1445 which provides that all resources of the government shall be managed, expended, or utilized in accordance with laws and regulations and be safeguarded against loss or wastage.

COA recommended that DepEd should be more cautious in the conduct of inspection to avoid acceptance of items that do not conform with standard specification and requirements. It also directed DepEd to enforce strictly the warranty for the defects found within the warranty period.