KABATAAN Representative Mong Palatino today said the Department of Education’s move to issue “teaching notes” to correct textbook errors is mere “palliative” as it does not solve the root cause of error-filled textbooks.

Instead, the youth solon said that only an improved and transparent bidding and procurement process would ensure that no error-filled books be distributed to public school students.

“DepEd cannot just issue an errata every time mistakes are found in the textbooks they procure. If anything, DepEd’s prescribed cure is ‘just another bitter and expensive pill’ as it would mean an additional cost  for the publication of these so-called teaching notes. Instead, the agency should immediately reform its textbook bidding and procurement processes to ensure the quality of books, and, consequently, prevent wasting much-needed funds for basic and higher education,” he said.

The neophyte solon also said it would be difficult for DepEd to recall all the erroneous textbooks and provide new and error-free ones given the education department’s measly education budget. Palatino said that the DepEd is alloted a mere 1.72 billion in the 2010 proposed national budget, 1% lower than last year’s allocation. ###