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Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Problems mar opening of classes
MANILA -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said Monday that government would need more time to solve the perennial troubles that plague the country's educational system.
Arroyo, in a statement, said all concerned agencies have teamed up to ensure that students are safe and secure during Monday's opening of classes for elementary and high schools.
Government is on track in its programs to improve the educational system but "stable families and excellent teachers must combine with good schools, books and modern facilities to mold the Filipino youth into a strong player in the new millennium," she added.
"It will indeed take time before we could fix the perennial problems on our education system but we will get there through the cooperation of all our institutions," she said.
Arroyo thanked Congress for raising the education department's budget by P2.6 billion, which she said would go a long way in boosting government's efforts to improve the educational system.
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said government has a lot of catching up to do but the additional funding is a "very significant step" towards substantially improving the educational system.
Bunye, who is also Presidential spokesman, called on teachers and students who are planning to stage a rally on Friday not to aggravate the country's current problems.
He said that although Malacaņang admitted there was a shortage of classrooms, Arroyo did not make a mistake when she insisted last week on using the 100:1 ratio as the basis for computing the classroom shortage.
He said Acting Education Secretary Fe Hidalgo took Tuesday last week's incident in a "very professional manner".
Hidalgo and other Department of Education (DepEd) officials inspected schools with classroom shortages and excess classrooms as classes started Monday in all public elementary and high schools nationwide.
The President instructed DepEd to determine the actual school situation and to coordinate with local government officials. DepEd officials visited Batasan Hills National High School, Ramon Magsaysay (Cubao) High School, and Ramon Magsaysay High School in Manila.
For years, Batasan Hills has been known to be one of the most crowded schools. This problem is being addressed through construction of new school buildings with the help of the Quezon City Government.
While the school continues to have classes with more than 50 students today, these are no longer held in the covered court or along staircases and corridors. The new school building comfortably accommodates the students.
Ramon Magsaysay in Cubao, meanwhile, lacks around 2,000 students based on its regular yearly enrollment of 7,000. The principal said that they could still accommodate students.
The DepEd officials made a surprise visit to Ramon Magsaysay in Manila and discovered that even with its highly populated enrollment of 6,800 students, there is no classroom shortage. Students are comfortably accommodated, with each class having 45-55 students per shift (the school observes the 1:100 double shift policy), and there are even excess seats.
"Here we also see the national and local government working together to address classroom shortage," said Hidalgo.
She clarified that based on DepEd planning division records, the 6,832 classroom shortage she reported to the President during a Cabinet meeting on May 30 was the projected shortage at the beginning of 2006 and based on 1:100 class-student ratio.
She said the construction of new classrooms is scheduled all throughout the year to meet this shortage. Thus far, 2,901 classrooms have been built and are ready for the school opening. More classrooms are being built until the end of the year.
Hidalgo however pointed out that while the classroom shortage may be addressed this year, certain variables in school-specific situations might still cause shortages in certain areas. While DepEd has projected schools with acute shortages based on enrolment trends, the Department is in the process of determining actual shortages vis-ā-vis actual construction of classrooms.
"Classroom shortage is mainly caused by population increase as well as migration or resettlement of families which cause sudden influx of students in particular school areas. School principals try to accommodate students in as much as they can and do necessary measures for students to be able to attend class despite the over-population of schools, like the blocking system or moving students to nearby schools," said Hidalgo. (JMR/Sunnex/With press release)
(June 6, 2006 issue)
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