The Department of Education (DepEd) Bottom-Up Budgeting (BuB) projects for calendar year 2017 fixes support for the implementation of Senior High School (SHS), under the Kto12 Curriculum. Annex B, Menu of Programs, of the DBM-DILG-DSWD-NAPC Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) No. 7, dated November 3, 2015, lists down the eligible projects for the BuB for all the participating agencies, including DepEd. The list includes project description, eligibility requirement, information required, standard cost and Local Government Unit (LGU) counterpart. The menu includes repair of existing and/or construction of additional SHS Technical-Vocational Livelihood (TVL) workshops, intended for Local Government Units (LGUs) with SHS sites offering TVL tracks and specializations such as, but not limited to agri-fishery, tourism, automotive, industrial arts, home economics, and information communication technology (ICT). Another project identified is construction of SHS Arts and Design workshops or facilities. This project is intended for LGUs with SHS sites offering arts and design specializations such as visual arts, performing arts and music.

Construction of SHS Sports facilities is likewise included, intended for LGUs with SHS sites offering sports track. This project is intended to attract students who are usually prone to dropping out of school. This then, will help reduce the number of SH drop-outs and OSYs, and subsequently improve student retention in schools. Further, repair of existing and/or construction of additional SHS Laboratories (i.e. computer, science, robotics, speech), is in the menu, for LGUs with SHS sites offering the academic strands such as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and humanities and social sciences (HUMSS). In addition to the foregoing list, the Local Poverty Reduction Action Team (LPRAT) can propose for the procurement of specialized equipment, tools and materials for SHS workshops and laboratories, for LGUs with SHS sites offering the academic, TVL, arts and design, and sports track. The inclusion of these SHS implementation support projects, is aimed to improve educational outcomes particularly on improving functional knowledge across a range of learning areas and technical skills.

To qualify for the performance-based grants of the foregoing projects for SHS implementation support, LGUs (cities) should have initially invested on senior high school needs (through SEF or general fund). This initial investment indicates the value LGUs place on education and human development. Further, senior high school investment plans should be validated by DepEd Central, and all projects are subject to actual visitation, assessment and validation of DepEd officials and engineers. Likewise, for schools to qualify, one basic requirement is the buildable space. Additional information required are the Local School Board (LSB) Resolution indicating current LGU investment on SHS, validated SHS investment plan, list of recipient schools, number of workshops to be repaired and/or constructed and type of workshops to be constructed (proposal outline for new workshops to be constructed).

Standard costs for these projects range from PhP 1 M to 1.5M per new workshop, excluding equipment inside. LGU counterpart required for these projects is maintenance and operation. There are other projects in support of basic education that the LPRAT can propose for 2017. This includes installation of water supply to schools. The standard cost for the project ranges from PhP 25,000 to 75,000. Another project included in the list is construction of school fence, to improve the safety and security of learners, employees and school properties. To qualify for this project, the school must have land ownership document, which could include any of the Transfer Certificate of Title, Deed of Donation, Deed of Sale, Usufruct Agreement, Tax Declaration, Presidential Proclamation, and Special Patent. Construction of faculty rooms for schools with at least ten teachers, construction of school library, and construction of school clinic may also be proposed, for schools with buildable space.

Finally, the PLRAT can propose for the procurement of transportation facilities for LGUs with schools that are inaccessible/ located in remote areas/ communities. It aims to improve education performance in terms of attendance rate, retention rate and drop-out rate by reducing travel time of learners from their respective homes going to schools. Most of the foregoing projects identified in the 2017 BuB Menu for the department were not included in the previous years of BuB implementation.@ (Eden A. Dadap, PDO-IV, DepEd RO8)