2015年-世界发展银行全球_Making_Education_Spending_Count_for_the_Children_of_Autonomous_Muslim_Region_of_Mindanao___Public_Expenditure_and_Institutional_Review_for_ARMM_Basic_Education_114页_56mb

Summary of the BE-PEIR Report: Making Education Spending Count for the Children of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao

Core Content

This report, Making Education Spending Count for the Children of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, is a Public Expenditure and Institutional Review (PEIR) focused on Basic Education in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). It was conducted by DFAT Australia and the World Bank in collaboration with local stakeholders and aims to improve the quality of education and public expenditure management (PEM) in the region. The report is part of a larger initiative to support fiscal transparency, budget effectiveness, and institutional reform in ARMM, with a specific focus on Bangsamoro preparations.

Main Objectives

1. Diagnose PEM issues in basic education and suggest improvements.
2. Improve public expenditure management processes in the region.
3. Enhance fiscal autonomy arrangements and inform planning for the proposed Bangsamoro political entity.

Key Findings

• Poor education outcomes: ARMM has significantly lower enrollment, completion, and attainment rates than the national average. For instance, only 23% of Grade 1 students reached Grade 6 in 2011-12, and 45% of 1st Year students reached 4th Year, compared to 73.5% and 78.8% nationally.
• Low literacy rates: In 2010, literacy rates for those aged 10-64 were estimated at 71.6%, far below the national average of 86.4%.
• Fragmented PEM system: The region suffers from fragmented planning, budgeting, and execution processes, with poor integration between national and regional budget systems.
• Weak governance and accountability: There is a lack of stewardship and transparency in handling public funds, with issues such as ghost teachers and inadequate MOOE (Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses).
• Inconsistent and inequitable LGU spending: Local Government Units (LGUs) in ARMM have inconsistent and uneven contributions to education, often without clear policies or accountability measures.
• Operational challenges: Many schools face closure and high absence rates for both teachers and students, with Lanao del Sur being a particularly affected area.

Key Issues in PEM

• Fragmentation of processes: Planning, budgeting, and execution are disjointed across national, regional, and local actors.
• Poor integration: The OPIF (Organizational Performance Indicator Framework) is not well adapted to ARMM's needs.
• Inconsistencies in autonomy: ARMM's devolution is not aligned with the national decentralization under the Local Government Code.
• Weak accountability: There is a lack of stewardship and reporting mechanisms for public funds.
• Slow budget execution: Delays in funding release and resource allocation are significant issues.
• Inadequate MOOE: Schools in ARMM have less operational funding than elsewhere in the country, especially at the elementary level.
• Poor data availability: Inaccurate and incomplete data hampers effective budgeting and monitoring.

Summarized Recommendations

The report outlines a set of actionable recommendations to improve education spending and governance in ARMM:

1. Improve Payroll Integrity

• Continue data clean-up in HRIS (Human Resources Information System) and payroll.
• Complete and institutionalize payroll and HR manuals.
• Enhance HRIS-payroll integration.
• Indicators: Completeness of HRIS, HRIS-payroll congruence, establishment of personnel boards.

2. Reduce Teacher and Pupil Absence

• Introduce incentives for teacher attendance and dropout prevention.
• Involve communities and civil society in monitoring.
• Indicators: Absence rates.

3. Address the Routine MOOE Gap

• Provide additional MOOE operational funds.
• Adopt a norm-based budgeting approach with DBM and DepEd National.
• Develop a policy for MOOE distribution to ARMM schools.
• Establish a reporting system for MOOE utilization.
• Include communities and civil society in monitoring.
• Indicators: Operational MOOE availability, MOOE utilization reporting.

4. Align CMF Budgets with Policy and Regional Needs

• Increase ARMM involvement in budgeting for centrally managed programs.
• Enhance liaison capacity and participation in budget processes.
• Indicators: ARMM/DepEd National liaison activities.

5. Accelerate CMF Execution

• Move key centrally managed programs (e.g., Madrasah Education, ALS) to direct regional appropriation.
• Agree on reporting benchmarks.
• Provide capacity support and staffing for program implementation.
• Indicators: Proportion of program budgets appropriated directly to ORG, reporting on fund utilization.

6. Improve Classroom Completion and Monitoring

• Clarify monitoring responsibilities for BEFF (Basic Education Facilities Fund) and SBP (School Building Program).
• Involve communities and civil society in monitoring.
• Indicators: School construction projects completed.

7. Ensure Equitable LGU Spending

• Integrate LGUs into regional planning and budgeting.
• Agree on regional LGU expenditure responsibilities for education.
• Indicators: Increased LGU spending on education, more information on LGU spending to region.

8. Strengthen Regional Budget Processes

• Revise the OPIF framework for ARMM.
• Establish sectoral budget working groups and joint national/regional program-budgets based on the HELPS framework.
• Improve budget transparency and include civil society and communities in monitoring.
• Indicators: Development of key HELPs indicators, agreement with national agencies, pilot open data initiative.

9. Enhance ARMM Budget Proposal Quality

• Strengthen the intra-ARMM budget process before ORG submission.
• Include a calendar, guidelines, and hearings.
• Increase the role of RBMO (Regional Budget and Management Office).
• Indicators: Issuance of budget circular with calendar and guidelines, timely submission of ARMM agencies.

Toward Bangsamoro

• Autonomy alone is not enough: The report emphasizes that fiscal autonomy must be accompanied by effective implementation, monitoring, and accountability.
• Strategies for Bangsamoro:
  • Unify fragmented funding and improve revenues.
  • Integrate regional budget processes with national systems.
  • Clarify LGU responsibilities and reporting to the region.
  • Strengthen monitoring within government and with communities, citizens, and children.
• Lessons for BTC and others:
  • Implementation is critical.
  • Fiscal management capacity and framework must be built into the new institutions.
  • Accountability mechanisms should be designed to ensure transparency and performance.

Conclusion

This report highlights the urgent need for reform in public expenditure management in ARMM, particularly in the basic education sector, and outlines a comprehensive action plan to address these challenges. The recommendations aim to improve efficiency, accountability, and governance in the region, and to support the transition to Bangsamoro by learning from past failures and strengthening institutional capacity.