THE Department of Education in Central Visayas (DepEd 7) has requested its central office to allocate infrastructure projects on a school-by-school basis rather than by region.
In a press conference on Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024, DepEd 7 Director Salustiano Jimenez explained that the department’s current system does not accurately reflect the conditions at individual schools.
He noted that the data in the system is not based on specific school needs, leading to discrepancies between the recorded availability of classrooms and the actual requirements of each school.
“If you look at our data in Automated Biometric Identification Systems (ABIS), there is a shortage of 11,000 but there is an excess of 7,000 classrooms,” Jimenez said in Cebuano.
“Because it’s a system, it automatically generates data across, not by school,” he added.
Jimenez ordered the DepEd 7’s staff to look into the needs of the schools and the capacity per school.
Around 3,800 public schools in Central Visayas started the academic year 2024-2025 on July 29, 2024, but students still share classrooms.
“I cannot categorically say that it is okay because if we want the ideal, we can see that there will be no more double shifts or triple shifts, the fact that until now there is a double shift due to the lack of classrooms is different if it is a single shift,” said Jimenez.
The Department of Education (DepEd) has long used early and shifting schedules to manage classroom shortages, even before the Covid-19 pandemic.
This shifting schedule involves classes sharing a classroom, with one group attending from 6 a.m. to 12 p.m. and another from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Jimenez emphasized the need for a needs-based, school-specific approach to address these challenges, particularly the lack of classrooms.
He then expressed satisfaction with how the 20 school division offices in the region have managed classes smoothly and efficiently, particularly in welcoming students this year.
During the press conference, Jimenez urged parents and guardians to enroll their children, noting that DepEd 7 is still over 100,000 students short of its target enrollment of 2.1 million as of Wednesday. / CDF