MANILA — The Department of Education said Tuesday it has released funds to its regional offices for the printing of self-learning modules that would be used in the coming school year.

The DepEd has been hounded by complaints that teachers were not given funds to spend in preparation for the coming school year, which will see a shift from the traditional in-person classes to distance learning.

Some teachers have reportedly shouldered costs with money from their own pockets, while others have asked for donations on social media.

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Education Undersecretary Nepomuceno Malaluan said it was possible that there was a delay in the release of funds to schools.

"Nagbaba talaga kami ng pondo sa regions. Maaaring hindi pa umabot sa kaniyang eskuwelahan," he told TeleRadyo.

(We released funds to the regions. It's possible that these have not reached the schools yet.)

It's also possible that some teachers no longer waited for the DepEd funds and shouldered the costs to immediately print the modules, Malaluan said.

There are also cases where the printing of modules is done at the division office and not in schools, he said.

Malaluan said funding from the DepEd Central Office was insufficient but there were other sources of money, such as the Special Education Fund of local governments.

• DepEd says to support LGUs in funding shift to distance learning

Malaluan added the department would ensure that teachers would not be burdened with the costs of printing the modules.

"Kung nagreresulta iyan sa... 'yong teacher mismo ang may burden (If there's a result... where the teacher is given the burden) then we will put the appropriate directive against that," he said.

The department gave its school division offices P9 billion to fund the provision of learning resources, including the printed modules.

He also noted that the DepEd was also asking for donations through the altered Brigada Eskwela program, but it was not compulsary to give.

• DepEd alters Brigada Eskwela, Oplan Balik Eskwela implementation as pandemic continues

Under the new Brigada Eskwela, the DepEd and schools would engage with partners from the public and private sectors to provide the needs of students in the coming school year.

The traditional Brigada Eskwela involved cleanups and repairs of school facilities and buildings, with students, teachers and volunteers participating in the effort.

Classes in public schools are scheduled to start on Aug. 24.