Caring for textbooks

Vowing to address the problem of textbook shortages, the Department of Education (DepEd) has directed schools to take better care of learning materials to preserve their inventories.

Secretary Armin Luistro, in Department of Education Order No. 14 issued this month, directed school heads, principals and teachers to strictly observe distribution and safekeeping procedures for textbooks, teacher’s manuals and other learning materials.

In his directive, Luistro said schools should keep supply losses at no more than 1 percent through regular inventory, random checks with students and early retrieval of learning materials before a school year ends.

Books unaccounted for should be immediately reported and located, the order said.

The directive said, “Principals/school heads shall ensure that [learning materials], which are government property, are properly used, cared for, safeguarded from natural and human elements, and recorded.”

In ensuring that losses did not exceed 1 percent, DepEd said the whole school and community should be involved in reminding students to return textbooks before the end of a school year.

Luistro said the order aimed to improve access to learning materials, maximize their use, and minimize or eliminate damage and/or losses.

He noted that textbooks, teacher’s manuals and other instructional materials, provided free to students and teachers, were intended to be used for at least five years.

Every learner, teacher and school head should exert all efforts to protect the learning materials to prolong their life span, the secretary added.

DepEd needs up to 100 million books for a one-to-one book-student ratio in every core subject.

Luistro had said DepEd hoped to fully address the textbook backlog by June.