DepEd told to address first lack of classrooms, teachers

Address the shortage of classrooms and teachers first before implementing the K+12 education reform program.

This was Cebu City Vice Mayor Joy Augustus Young’s advice to the Department of Education during Thursday’s Cebu Educators Forum (CEF) at the University of the Philippines, Cebu conference hall.

Young said he was in favor of the program but that it wasn’t the right time to implement it.

“We’re not ready for it because we don’t have enough money and teachers. . . Dili practical ang additional two years sa high school,” he said.

“You can’t increase a budget overnight. . .Instead of adding two more years, we can concentrate on adding more classrooms and teachers.”

Young cited as example the city-funded night high school program. He said without it, 40 percent of the students in Cebu City wouldn’t be able to go to high school.

He said the quality of education in the country was poor because of the lack of teachers and classrooms.

DepEd’s K+12 program started this year with universal kindergarten education in all public schools in June.

Twelve stands for six years elementary education, four years junior high school plus two years for the senior high school (grades 11 and 12).

The additional two years in senior high school (grades 11 and 12) will be implemented starting school year 2016 to 2017.

Dr. Carmelita Dulangon, DepEd’s assistant regional director, said the kindergarten phase was implemented despite the shortages of resources for this school year.

These are the shortage of 1,994 teachers for kindergarten; 651 teachers for elementary; 772 teachers for secondary education; and the lack of instructional rooms and school furniture.

Dulangon, however, said these problems were addressed with the local school board hiring additional teachers and using ancillary facilities or rooms as classrooms.

Some barangay halls shared rooms as temporary classrooms, and nongovernment organizations also donated buildings, equipment and school supplies.

Two teachers who attended the forum also expressed their opposition to the program.

“Unless the government would spend for the program, it shouldn’t be implemented considering the basic condition of our country,” said engineer Charlene Traces of Cebu Technological University’s College of Engineering.

Choly Sedentaryo, Linao Elementary School teacher in barangay Talamban, Cebu City, said the program would only add to the agony of parents.

Sedentaryo, however, said that that if it couldn’t be stopped, then we would have to adapt ourselves to it. Dulangon said studies showed that the program would benefit high school students since it would prepare them well for college.

The Philippines is pressed to catch up with Asian countries, Europe and the United States in having 12 years of basic education instead of the current 10. Correspondent Rhea Ruth V. Rosell