100 Cavite schools shutting down

Cavite Governor Jonvic Remulla  INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / RICHARD A. REYES

Cavite Gov. Juanito Victor Remulla on Monday said about 100 private schools in his province would stop operating at least for the incoming school year, when the country’s educational system would undergo the transition from classroom education to blended or distant learning.

Remulla said the provincial government would have to lay out its own “educational plan” and allocate P5 billion for 600,000 students enrolling to public schools this year.

“It is our local solution to a national problem,” Remulla said.

Back to zero

In a public post addressed to Education Secretary Leonor Briones, Remulla pointed out that local governments would have to shoulder the public schools’ expenses in shifting to remote or online education, on top of the medical expenditures to combat the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

“It is unfortunate that at the time of COVID [when] every Filipino student should be given a chance at proper education … the reality is only the rich can afford to learn,” he said.Jeofrey Capili Sr., a private school principal and president of Association of Private Schools, Principals and Administrators in Cavite, confirmed the governor’s data, as well as the sentiment of school owners, but said he was “discouraging” the schools from shutting down.

“If they do so, everything will have to go back to zero [and will be more difficult for them to recover should they decide to reopen after the pandemic],” Capili said.

Undecided parents

He said many parents were still “undecided” on whether to push through their children’s enrollment. Others, who have lost their jobs due to the pandemic, have opted to transfer their children to public schools.

“In private schools, it’s a no-work, no-pay [scheme for teachers and personnel]. The last time we received our salaries was on March 15, yet we never got any [government] aid,” Capili said.

Eleazardo Kasilag, president of Federation of Associations of Private Schools and Administrators, said it was too early to say how many of their 6,000 member schools could survive the crisis brought about by the pandemic, with still about a month before the school opening in August.

Quoting the Department of Education’s data that only 80 percent of last year’s student population had enrolled so far, Kasilag said the schools were banking on the remaining 20 percent to enroll in private schools.

He said private schools were told to extend their enrollment period until September to accommodate late enrollees and offer services, like smaller teacher-student ratio, stronger internet connection and better distance learning systems than those of public schools. INQ

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