Classroom shortage still bugs DepEd
THE Department of Education is eyeing double or triple class shifts in some areas of Metro Manila and Calabarzon where classroom shortage has been reported in public schools due to the high number of students.
DepEd spokesperson Michael Tan Poa said there are schools in the two regions where the ratio of students per classroom stands at 68 to 1, a sad development considering the government has poured billions of pesos to address classroom shortage over the years.
“Ang unang strategy natin diyan is to implement a shifting schedule. Hopefully, dalawang shifts lang pero kung hindi talaga kaya maaari tayong mag-tatlo (Our initial strategy is to implement a shifting schedule. Hopefully, we will be able to do with just two shifts but if it is not tenable, we may do a three-shifting schedule,” Poa said.
Data provided by the DepEd showed that as of yesterday, Calabarzon and Metro Manila topped the regions with the highest number of enrollees in all levels — from kindergarten to senior high school.
Calabarzon has 2,802,842 enrollees while Metro Manila has 2,161,816.
One of the schools, Batasan Hills National High School in Quezon City, has only 120 classrooms to accommodate an expected 9,000-plus students when ideally it should have 198 classrooms.
Overall, the DepEd said 19,263,425 students have so far enrolled nationwide, divided into 16,943,745 in public schools, 2,254,879 in private schools, and 64,801 in state universities and colleges and local universities and colleges.
Poa said shifting of classes in these areas will allow schools to prevent overcrowding so that physical distancing can still be implemented as part of the minimum health standards to prevent the transmission of the COVID-19 virus.
Another option the DepEd is mulling is to continue blended learning in schools where many students cannot be accommodated in classrooms.
Blended learning — the use of modules and online schooling — was implemented by the department in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic began, but has pushed for the return of in-person classes this year.
Classes are set to start on Aug. 22 with a combination of blended learning and face-to-face classes, with full in-person classes set to start in November.
Earlier, the Commission on Audit flagged the DepEd in its 2021 audit report, saying that of the 11,468 classrooms targeted for repairs, only 2,689 or 23.45 percent were completed by the department before yearend.
The COA noted that the DepEd had been allocated P9.467 billion for its Basic Education Facilities Fund programs, which includes the repair of classrooms.
