School opening orderly – DepEd

MANILA, Philippines - School opening yesterday went smoothly and was orderly despite numerous complaints of overcrowding in several schools in Metro Manila, according to the Department of Education.

DepEd Assistant Secretary for Planning Jesus Mateo attributed the problem of overcrowding to the late registration of students.

As of yesterday, some 10.7 million out of the projected 20.8 million students in public schools have registered.

“Our initial assessment is the opening of classes was generally smooth, except for a few cases,” Mateo said in a press conference.

DepEd-National Capital Region director Luz Almeda said that based on their monitoring, overcrowding only happened in about five percent of the total 760 public schools in Metro Manila.

“We no longer have triple-shifts now. But 12 elementary schools and 21 secondary schools have problems with overcrowding. These are the schools with 55 or more students per classroom, “Almeda said.

She visited yesterday the Commonwealth Elementary School, Benigno Aquino Elementary School, Rosa Susano Elementary School and Quirino Elementary School, all in Quezon City, and Navotas High School, where congestion has long been a problem.

However, Mateo said the problem of overcrowding went down from 14 percent last school year to only five percent now.

Almeda said most of the overcrowded schools are located in Las Piñas, Malabon, Caloocan, Mandaluyong and parts of Quezon City.

Mateo attributed the decrease in congested classrooms to the DepEd’s early registration last Jan. 26, building of new classrooms, hiring of new teachers and redeployment of teaching personnel.

Late enrollees

Mateo said millions of students who intend to study in public schools have yet to register as of yesterday.

“There are millions of students who have not yet registered, particularly in populated areas, around three to four million,” he said.

“We have authorized principals to transfer to other schools the late enrollees,” he added.

The education department is projecting 1.7 million enrollees for kindergarten (actual enrollment 978,000), 13 million for elementary (6.8 million actual enrollment), and five million for secondary (3 million actual enrollment).

Mateo said students can still enroll in public schools this week.

He said the standard teacher-pupil ratio for kindergarten is 1:25; 1:36 for elementary; and 1:37 for high school.

“The reason why the student-teacher ratio in urban cities is higher is because these areas are more populated,” Mateo said.

PNP assistance

National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Leonardo Espina said there was no report of any untoward incident, especially on students falling prey to criminal activities on the first day of classes.

This even if rains and thunderstorms were experienced in some parts of Metro Manila yesterday afternoon.

Espina said traffic was smooth in the vicinity of schools as traffic policemen and agents of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) manned their posts as early as 6 a.m.

At least 10,000 policemen were deployed while a total of 793 police assistance desks (PADS) were set up in various schools yesterday.

Chief Superintendent Christopher Laxa, NCRPO deputy director for operations, said the PADS contributed to the peaceful and orderly opening of classes. – With Non Alquitran, Cecille Suerte Felipe