School opening blues: Separation anxiety hits moms hard

MotherS of students at President Corazon C. Aquino Elementary School wave to their children from atop a footbridge beside the school on Interim Batasang Pambansa Road in Quezon City. LYN RILLON

MANILA, Philippines–Separation anxiety apparently affected mothers more than their school-bound children on the first day of school.

Aling Lita, 47, scoured the second floor of the Belmonte Building inside the Commonwealth Elementary School compound in Quezon City minutes after she dropped off her 10-year-old son for the afternoon classes.

“He’s always moving about,” she told the Inquirer as she continued to look for her son, a search that started on the ground floor.

“He is in Grade 6. I just want to make sure that he does not go out of the school grounds,” she explained with a smile, explaining that school officials had discouraged parents from lingering inside the school compound after seeing their children off.

On the other hand, Florence, 34, was there to bring her two children home at the end of their classes. She was also the one who took them to school.

“I just want to be sure they are safe,” she said as she left the compound with her 8-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter in tow.

Commonwealth Elementary School principal Rodolfo Modelo said that the public primary school, which has one of the biggest student populations, did not encounter any problem on opening day except for “makulit (annoyingly persistent)” mothers who insisted on lingering in the already crowded school compound.

Modelo told the Inquirer that it was understandable for mothers of preschool students to want to stay longer inside the compound until their kids had settled in although older pupils needed to be taught to be independent.

The principal estimated the number of students enrolled in the school at 9,600. The figure, however, could go up by four or five percent by next week when they start accepting late applicants. The school, he said, currently has 247 kids under the special education program.

Modelo added that 16 classrooms were under construction to improve the room to student ratio in the school, which was now at 1:55.

On the other hand, students and teachers at the congested Maricaban Elementary School in Pasay City were luckier after new classrooms were added this school year.

This time, there were two new classrooms still waiting for finishing touches, slightly better compared to the situation last year when some classes were held outdoors with blackboards serving as makeshift dividers.

“We have tried to address the classroom shortage by building more classrooms,” Romy Socao, school principal, said in an interview.

Socao pointed out that classes were no longer being conducted in corridors since the setup had been acknowledged as not conducive to learning.

“Even if there is no formal turnover of the classrooms yet, the rooms that are almost done and waiting for finishing touches are already being used,” Sacao added.

In Makati City, students in some public schools consider themselves more fortunate.

Evelyn Bolivar, principal of Guadalupe Viejo Elementary School, said that apart from not having a classroom shortage problem, the textbook-to student-ratio was also at the ideal 1:1.

Thus, the resumption of classes went smoothly in the school on Monday.

In a statement, the Makati City government announced that it had earmarked P1.3 billion out of its P2-billion budget for education this year to provide for the needs of public school students from preschool to high school.

The city also allocated P520 million for Project Free which provides school supplies and uniforms to students in Makati’s public elementary and high schools.

The remainder of the P2-billion budget for education has been earmarked as follows: P22.3 million for the University of Makati, P8.9 million for youth and sports development, and P3.6 million for the city’s college scholarship programs at the University of the Philippines and Philippine Normal University.

A separate budget of around P23 million has been allocated for the pilot K to 12 senior high school program at the University of Makati, where students also receive free school supplies and uniforms.–With Ed

Margareth Barahan, trainee