Appreciating the Local Government Support to Basic Education in Lambayong Districts

The Philippines’ Local Government Code of 1991promulgatedtheSpecial Education Fund (SEF) for local government units(e.g. municipalities, cities, and provinces) to help public schools in their areas. This study explored and linked the local support, through SEF, and basic education performance in Lambayong, Sultan Kudarat, for the period, 2009 to 2013. As standard of the Department of Education, performance was measured through the indices of quality, access and efficiency. Results revealed that the establishment of extension classes received the largest support, while, sports activities got the least. Funding supports were relatively increasing annually except in 2011 when calamity hit significant parts of the locality. Quality-wise, the uptrend in NAT MPS emerged very promising, but, the steady decline in pupil-textbook ratio was rather alarming. With the exception of completion rate, access to school showed desirable proportions in graduation, participation, and gross enrolment. Cohort survival was low indicative of schools’ inefficiency, while drop-out rate was regarded acceptable as it is relatively lower than the national average. Indeed, the funding support from the local government was statistically related to the basic education performance in the districts.