Friday, March 28, 2008 Roperos: School closing woes By Godofredo M. Roperos Politics Also
TAKING public transportation sometimes gives unusual insights on the passing scene in one’s surrounding. It is more so when the social and economic condition is placing our people in a circumstance that is not conducive to better living.
I had such encounter a few days ago while commuting between the city and Balamban, my hometown where I now stay most of the time. Rural life is less stressful and without the temptation of a diet that is bad for aging men.
At any rate, I talked recently with some parents I rode with in the V-hire to the city. One was a retired civil servant, another a small convenience store proprietor.
Our conversation drifted to school closing problems, like school fees of their grandchildren. One of them complained that while government is supposed to provide free education to the young, public school expenses are almost similar to those in private primary and secondary schools.
In the face of such small talk, one cannot help getting curious about what got them so riled about. I soon learned that, in many instances, teachers are able to hit it out with the schoolchildren’s parents to the extent that they are able to get them to agree to whatever they want done through the parents-teacher organization in the school.
And so, before the parents know it, they have agreed to contribute so much for the monthly water bill, repair of fence, broken windows, etc.
Some schools, it seems, also offer computer training courses to pupils who are asked to contribute for computer maintenance at P50 a month, and yet the enrollees attend class only one hour once a week. Then there are donations for school security, monthly electric bill and, when periodical tests come, P10 for the test paper. Aren’t these small expenses part of the cost of operation?
I also learned that pupils are told they would not get their clearances if they do not pay. A clearance is needed for enrolment in June. A father I met the other day said his son was told he could pay on installment of his P450 balance. A grandmother of 12 kids was surprised that she was asked to pay dues without receipts, for expenses that should be in the school budget.
In any case, I think complaints about extra school donations, contributions and other assessments would not have come about had times been better, with the problem of rice shortage and inflation riding hard on their backs, generating stress on family incomes and relationships.
