Reforms in DepEd's textbook procurement.

The Department of Education )DepEd) has reduced to almost half the cost of textbooks following the implementation of procurement reforms.

According Secretary Jesli Lapus, the introduction of International Competitive Bidding (ICB) also helped improve the quality of the paper used for the textbooks. This translates into substantial savings for the government and better textbooks for the public school system. The previous average cost of a textbook was P90, but now it only costs P45.

How does it work? A new process is being done wherein the bidding for the development of manuscript is separated from the printing and delivery. Under this process of procurement, four-level content evaluation in 2005 was adopted.

To further improve the process, in the case of English textbooks, selected titles are being reviewed by the Ateneo de Manila University for elementary textbooks and the University of the Philippines for high school textbooks.

The DepEd's Textbook Procurement Program was recently cited as a best practice by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development-Development Assistance Committee (OECD-DAC), an international forum of donor governments and international multilateral organizations, including the United Nations and the World Bank.