Bureau of Supply and the Bureau of Education

Media

Part of The Philippine Craftsman

Title: Bureau of Supply and the Bureau of Education
Creator: Ladd, Edwin W.
Language: English
Year: 1916
Rights
Fulltext: COOPERATION BETWEEN THE BUREAU OF EDUCATION AND OTHER BUREAUS. BUREAU OF SUPPLY AND THE BUREAU OF EDUCATION. By Edwin W. Ladd, Chief Clerk, Bureau of Supply. Between the various Bureaus of the Insular Government the maximum of cooperation would seem not only desirable, but absolutely necessary, to secure the best results for the Government as a whole, and it is probably the application of this principle both in the internal organization of the Bureaus themselves and in the interbureau relations which has conduced more than anything else toward the efficient working of the government machine. Considering specifically the subject of cooperation between the Bureau of Education and the Bureau of Supply, it may be well to determine first the point of contact between the two organizations. The function of the Bureau of Supply, as is implied by its name, is to furnish at the times when required and at reasonable cost the various items of supplies and equipment necessary for the various activities of the Government. With the working out of educational policies and problems, of course, it has nothing to do; but with the furnishing of the physical accompaniments and accessories needful to the working out of such problems it has a great deal to do. There is ample scope for cooperation here and the two Bureaus have in fact cooperated admirably in past years and up to the present time. The thought of education invariably suggests the subject of books, and the furnishing of the thousands of textbooks and reference works for educational work in the Islands is one of the typical examples of the results of cooperative effort between the two Bureaus. At first glance it may appear that the matter of textbooks is one which pertains so exclusively to the Bureau of Education that it would be detrimental to have an entirely separate entity interfere in the work of securing them. On the other hand, if the Bureau of Supply were eliminated in the matter of the purchase of so important an item as books for the schools, other Bureaus could advance the same argument in connection with their special apparatus and equipment and the original scheme of a central purchasing organization for 7 8 THE PHILIPPINE CRAFTSMAN the entire requirements of the various branches of the Government would be nullified. The two Bureaus accordingly cooperate on the following basis. The Bureau of Education selects the books to be used, preparing and revising the subject matter in many instances, arranges with the publishers the details as to quantities and prices, and then forwards the requisitions to the Bureau of Supply with full information as to name of publisher, price, time of delivery, and other details, for final placing of the orders. In purchases aggregating several hundreds of thousands of pesos annually, it would work a hardship on the Bureau of Education for the Bureau of Supply to charge the full rate of surcharge (formerly 10 per cent) for merely forwarding the orders and looking after the details as to shipment and delivery. It was accordingly agreed to reduce the surcharge to 2£ per cent on this class of purchases, special authority being obtained therefor. The results of this plan have been eminently satisfactory to all concerned. The Bureau of Supply, through its representative in New York City, can keep constantly in touch with the publishers, inspect the work of manufacture, have the books assembled in large lots for shipment, and in general look after the interests of the Government, which otherwise might be neglected, and the Bureau of Education, after the requisitions are filed with the Bureau of Supply, is relieved of entire responsibility as to the execution of the orders placed. Mutual concessions and cooperation have thus tended toward efficiency and economy to the Government as a whole. In the work of securing general school supplies, such as composition books, pencils, pens, chalk, blackboard material, ink, and pads, there is opportunity for even greater cooperation than in the acquisition of textbooks, as in the latter case the services of the Bureau of Supply are more or less perfunctory. To obtain these items, which are necessarily used in large quantities yearly, the two Bureaus have cooperated in the following manner. The Bureau of Education requisition for general school supplies is filed with the Bureau of Supply during the month of September or October of the year preceding the school year beginning in June, when they are to be distributed and used. This allows ample time for bids to be advertised for, contracts to be awarded, and deliveries made by the various contractors. These awards are made only after full consultation between the Bureau of Supply and the Bureau of Education, the nature of the requirements of the latter Bureau and the best COOPERATION BETWEEN BUREAUS 9 method of filling those requirements through the advice of the purchasing branch of the Government both being important factors in securing the best results. The points of cooperation in this work may be summarized as: 1. The allowing of ample time to the Bureau of Supply to secure deliveries of the items required. 2. Decisions as to awards being made only after full consultation between the two offices. 3. Standardization; the various items being standardized as much as possible as to specifications, thus simplifying the matter of purchase and reducing the number of items to a minimum, as well as enabling both Bureaus to profit by the experience gained in previous years. On this latter point of standardization much might be said. This is probably the one most important factor in connection with the supply problem of the Insular Government, and it may safely be asserted that the Bureau of Education has done more along this line than any of the other Philippine Government bureaus, with results beneficial to that Bureau, as well as to the Bureau of Supply. As is of course well known to Bureau of Education officials and employees, the construction materials and equipment for the various classes of school buildings have all been standardized in accordance with the different requirements of the several sizes of buildings, and the orderly working out of these multitudinous details has immeasurably lightened the labors of all parties concerned. The Bureau of Supply, with the aid of the committee on standardization, is now engaged in developing a comprehensive plan of standardization to embrace the property and equipment of all branches of the Government, and, with hearty cooperation on the part of all interested, extremely beneficial results are sure to be attained. Another phase of cooperation between the Bureaus of Education and Supply which may be mentioned is in connection with the industrial program of the Bureau of Education. Reference is made particularly to section 3 of Act No. 2629, enacted February 4, 1916 (An Act conferring certain powers upon the Director of Education for the purpose of stimulating and encouraging the manufacture of handicraft products in the Philippine Islands), which reads as follows: The Bureau of Supply is hereby authorized to furnish, subject to the approval of the Secretary of Public Instruction, to the Bureau of Education, out of any funds available for the purchase of supplies, such sums not exceeding one hundred thousand pesos in all as may from time to time be required to pay in advance the cost of materials and the expense of production in household industries. All advances of funds and extension of credit shall be considered on the same basis as purchases of supplies. 10 THE PHILIPPINE CRAFTSMAN Certain financial problems had to be met in providing a fund for the purchase of the materials to be used in the work. It was found that the Bureau of Education appropriation had not contemplated the expenditure of funds for supplies other than the regular requirements of the Bureau, but as these materials had to be acquired, recourse was had to the “purchase of supplies” fund of the Bureau of Supply for temporary financing, it being understood between the two Bureaus that the materials requisitioned should be paid for after a fixed number of months instead of immediately upon receipt. By this plan the Bureau of Education is enabled to use the materials in making up the various articles, place them on sale, and then, after the proceeds are received, reimburse the Bureau of Supply for the original outlay. The latter Bureau acts in a sense as a banking institution, extending credit to its brother organization. Without such cooperation the prosecution of this very valuable work might have been greatly hampered or delayed, and while the Bureau of Suppply does not desire to extend credit in this manner indiscriminately, this may be cited as an interesting experiment in interbureau cooperation. In general, cooperation with the Bureau of Supply on the part of the different organizations of the Government may be fostered by reducing to a minimum demands which are difficult to satisfy, and by specifying clearly just what is desired in the way of materials and equipment. In addition, the Bureau of Supply, by familiarizing itself with the needs of the various departments which it serves, can materially assist in their efficient operation by anticipating the demands which may be made and by providing adequate stocks of the staple items. It is confidently expected that the policy of cooperation which has been in vogue between the Bureaus of Education and Supply will be continued and, if anything, will develop along even broader lines. The results will be beneficial to the Filipino people as a whole, because anything which affects the welfare of such a great work as the Bureau of Education is conducting extends necessarily to the entire people. lU IillAV OF l’VBI.IC WORKS AND THE BUREAU OF EDUCATION. By D. E. Henr y. Bureau of Public Works. Cooperation is as necessary between bureaus or offices as it is among the several divisions of one bureau, or among the employees of one division of a bureau.. Cooperation between the Bureau of Public Works and the Bureau of Education has