The Department of Education is proposing P61.02 billion in direct operating funds for public schools nationwide under the 2027 national budget, more than double the amount allocated five years ago as the agency shifts toward stronger school-level funding.
The proposed allocation for Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses, or MOOE, compares with roughly P30 billion in direct school funding in 2022. It is also slightly higher than the P60.89 billion appropriated for school-level operating expenses this year.
The school-level allocation forms part of DepEd’s proposed P975.96-billion budget for 2027. The department has said the funding increase is intended to give schools greater flexibility in covering day-to-day operational requirements while reducing administrative bottlenecks.
Under the proposed allocation, elementary schools would receive P2,982 in MOOE per learner, up from P2,792 this year. Junior high school funding would rise to P2,744 per learner from P2,631, while senior high school allocations would increase to P3,558 from P3,264.
DepEd said the increases reflect a continuing rise in per-learner support. Elementary allocations, for example, increased from P1,389 per learner in 2024 to P2,140 in 2025 and P2,792 in 2026. Junior high school allocations rose from P1,844 to P2,201 and then P2,631 over the same period.
For 2027, the department also plans to fully implement its Simplified Normative Funding Formula. Instead of relying on several fixed parameters, the revised system will use school enrollment and baseline data to determine operating requirements and distribute MOOE.
The increase in direct school funding comes even as some other portions of the proposed DepEd budget face reductions. The agency’s overall MOOE allocation is proposed at P174.32 billion, down 15.9% from this year, while capital outlay is projected to fall 67.49% to P32.34 billion.
DepEd has also requested P145.19 billion in additional funding for critical programs that are not fully covered in the 2027 National Expenditure Program. Among its priorities are classroom construction, learning recovery, teacher career progression, textbooks and instructional materials, school feeding and inclusive education.
The proposed P61.02-billion school-level fund therefore represents one part of a much larger education budget debate as Congress reviews the 2027 national expenditure program. While direct operating support has increased substantially over the past five years, the final allocation will depend on the continuing budget deliberations.
For schools, the key change could be greater funding flexibility at the local level, particularly if the new funding formula is implemented as planned. How effectively the additional resources translate into classroom needs, school maintenance and day-to-day support will depend on the final budget and its implementation nationwide.
