Over 2M students troop to Western Visayas schools on class opening day

Western Visayas (Wikipedia maps)

ILOILO CITY — Classes resumed for more than two million students in Western Visayas on Monday with no major hitches reported, the Department of Education (DepEd) said.

Reports about lack of classrooms, however, persist although the deficit is being gradually addressed and has actually been reduced compared to previous years, according to Victor de Gracia, assistant director of DepEd-Western Visayas.

De Gracia said uncompleted school buildings were due to delayed construction activities, but that establishment of structures and classrooms were being focused on since last year especially for senior high school students.

Teacher shortage has also been significantly addressed in the region, according to officials, with massive hiring of public school teachers in 2018.

The number of teachers this school year reached 65,765, De Gracia said.

The bulk of students who are anticipated to attend school in the region this school year are in the elementary level with 989,335. This is followed by junior high school with 632,999 students; senior high school with 230,000; kindergarten with 170,063; alternative learning system with 56,249; and special education with 5,420. (Editor: Katherine G. Adraneda)