Gov’t urged to address classroom shortage first

4 Ks FOR K-12 PROGRAM’S SUSPENSION Members of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance and teachers hold placards bearing the four reasons (from lack of teachers to lack of books and facilities) that they believe are grounds for the suspension of the K-12 (Kindergarten to Grade 12) program. EV ESPIRITU/INQUIRER NORTHERN LUZON

K-12? HOW about addressing classroom shortages first?

This was the position of a coalition of parents and teachers at the opening of classes in public elementary and high schools on Monday.

The group held a signature drive in front of Batasan Hills National High School in Quezon City to call for the suspension of the K-12 (Kindergarten to Grade 12) program, which will see the implementation of Grade 11 next year and Grade 12 in 2017.

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), Parents’ Movement Against K-12 (PMAK), and women’s group Gabriela chose Quezon City’s most populous public school to highlight how the government, despite pushing for a transition in the education system, still had to address basic educational needs.

“The DepEd (Department of Education) has yet to resolve the large gap in student-classroom ratio in public schools and yet it still wants to push through with an additional two years [under K-12],” said PMAK convenor Obeth Montes in a statement. “We seriously doubt that schools will be more conducive to learning for our children in those two additional years.”

ACT and other groups also made the rounds of elementary and high schools in Manila and nearby cities, seeking signatures urging the government to stop the K-12 program.

Other groups mounted protests in Baguio City, Iloilo City and in Kalibo, Aklan province, to seek the suspension of the K-12 program.

Split rooms

The Batasan high school has only 127 classrooms, around 30 with partitions to split the rooms into two, said Fredie Avendaño, assistant division superintendent for Quezon City schools.

The DepEd resorted to splitting the classrooms so there would be room for each of the numerous class sections, mostly in Grade 7.

ACT Rep. Antonio Tinio, who inspected the school, said Grade 7 alone had 84 sections. “There’s basically 90 students in a room good only for 45,” he said.

The high school currently has 12,921 students enrolled for the school year, a 2.36-percent increase from last year, Avendaño said.

He said splitting the classrooms was a “temporary” solution to the crowding at the school.

A 32-classroom extension will be constructed on a nearby lot by next year, in time for the implementation of the K-12 Senior High School Program.

The measures to decongest the Batasan high school were apparently not enough for ACT and PMAK that fear that continuing the K-12 program would worsen overcrowding in the school.

DepEd Director Luz Almeda of the National Capital Region said the problem with the Batasan high school was the lack of space for new buildings.

Chair shortage, too

Not only lack of classrooms but also a shortage of chairs greeted students of public schools in Albay public schools.

In Eastern Visayas, more than 287,000 classrooms are needed to accommodate more than 1 million students despite donations from local and international groups following the onslaught of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan) two years ago.

The region also needs 56,000 chairs for Kindergarten, 150,000 for elementary to include those in Grades 7 and 8, and 81,928 for secondary students.

“But the department is addressing this particular shortage,” said Mercy Sarmiento, DepEd information officer in Central Visayas.

In Zamboanga City, more than 70,000 chairs were needed as public schools opened on Monday. Pedro Melchor Natividad, the division school superintendent, said that of “71,718 needed, only 1,300 were provided.”

Bring own chair

Parents of students at Ligao West Central School in Albay province were dismayed as their children were asked to bring their own chairs.

Ted Revidad, one of the parents, said the chair shortage clearly indicated that the DepEd was not ready to accommodate students in public schools, contrary to the education officials’ claim that it was “all systems go” for the opening of classes.

Revidad carried a Monobloc chair for his 9-year-old son, a fourth grader.

Rise in enrollment

School principal Eric Gangawan said the chair shortage was due to the unexpected rise in enrollment.

At Cabangan Elementary School in Camalig town, three sections in Grade 1 were using temporary learning spaces (TLS) due to the lack of classrooms resulting from a fire that razed a school building on March 20.

A TLS is a semiconcrete structure with galvanized iron roofing with no ceiling. Plywood partitions are used as dividers.

Isiah Cristof Revale, a Grade 1 pupil, was just hours into his first day of school in a TLS classroom when he was interviewed by the Inquirer. He said he wanted to go home because he could not bear the heat.

Computers stolen

In Pangasinan province, education officials confronted a shortage of equipment due to recent cases of burglary in schools.

When pupils attend their computer classes in two elementary schools in Alaminos City this week, they will find computer rooms without desktop computers.

Their schools were among the 24 public schools ransacked by robbers in January and emptied of equipment.

In Isabela province, school officials said a shortage of computers and late enrollment were some of the problems encountered by teachers.

Students of Shamrock Elementary School in Laoag City held classes in a covered court on campus after a fire last month destroyed a building housing six classrooms.

In Eastern Visayas, nongovernment organizations and private groups were able to rebuild at least 10,900 school buildings in the aftermath of Yolanda.

There are areas that need more classrooms like at Sto. Niño Elementary School in Tanauan, Leyte province.

“Many organizations came to us and promised to help us rebuild our school buildings but only Intel made good on their promise [to build 10 classrooms],”said school principal Marlon Tangpuz.

The school still needs 10 more classrooms to accommodate more than 500 students.

Protests

In Manila, teachers and students joined some 200 people who marched from the University of Santo Tomas campus to the Chino Roces Bridge (formerly Mendiola) in the afternoon for a protest urging the government to listen to their complaints about the K-12 program.

Members of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, League of Filipino Students, Anakbayan, ACT and other militant groups gathered in front of the gates of Araullo High School in Ermita, Manila, urging students, teachers and parents to sign a petition to stop the implementation of the program.

The groups also set up booths outside Manila Science High School, Ramon Magsaysay High School, Manila High School and Caloocan High School.

For Charisse Bañez, a convenor of the Stop K-12 Movement running the signature campaign, the program needs to be junked because of deeper issues other than logistical ones.

“The K-12 program is geared to train the Filipino youth to be ready for skilled or semiskilled labor, which will only serve the government’s labor policy. This is all in the curriculum of the program,” Bañez said.

At least 20 members of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance staged a rally in Baguio City.

Joined by teachers of Saint Louis University, the protesters said the government was driving resources into the new program, which requires a complex senior high school program, without addressing basic problems in the education sector, such as shortage of classrooms.

In Iloilo City, student groups led by Anakbayan and Kabataan party-list held a rally in front of the DepEd regional office.

Teachers marched from Plaza Libertad to the regional office of the Department of Budget and Management to call for the suspension of the K-12 program and to demand a salary increase.

In Kalibo, protesters led by Anakbayan and Bayan held a rally in front of the DepEd provincial office.

Out of school

As classes opened on Monday, Tinio said 2.3 million students weren’t able to go to school.

Based on DepEd enrollment figures, the ACT Teachers lawmaker said some 570,000 Kindergarten, 838,000 elementary and 1.1 million high school students were unable to attend classes because of poverty.

In a statement, Tinio said interventions, such as the government’s conditional cash transfer program, “have not been effective in enabling the poorest families to send their children to school.”

Assistant Education Secretary Jesus Mateo said the number of out-of-school youths could be the beneficiaries targeted by the DepEd’s Abot Alam program, which aims to map out-of-school youth and match them with appropriate government and private sector programs that will give them “opportunities for education, employment and entrepreneurship.”–With reports from Michael B. Jaucian, Inquirer Southern Luzon; Vincent Cabreza, Gabriel Cardinoza, Yolanda Sotelo, Villamor Visaya Jr. and Leilanie Adriano, Inquirer Northern Luzon; Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon; Joey A. Gabieta and Nestor P. Burgos Jr., Inquirer Visayas; Julie S. Alipala, Inquirer Mindanao; and Jovic Yee, DJ Yap, Deany Cheng and Kathrina Pineda in Manila

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