Number of students in Spratly school increases

MANILA, Philippines - From only seven in the previous school year, there are now 27 students enrolled at the Kalayaan elementary school in the disputed Spratlys archipelago.

“Their number increased to 27 following the completion of a classroom last month,” Kalayaan Mayor Eugenio Bito-onon said.

Bito-onon was referring to the pre-fabricated classroom donated by the Ayala Foundation through the efforts of former Western Command chief, retired Lt. Gen. Juancho Sabban.

Of the 27 pupils, six are in kindergarten, 20 are in Grades one to five, and one is in Grade six.

“Kindergarten to Grade three pupils attend their classes in the morning, while Grades four to six students have their classes the whole afternoon. This is due to the lack of classrooms and teachers,” Bito-onon said.

The Department of Education deployed two teachers to the school.

The school was able to produce its first batch of four kindergarten graduates last year.

Bito-onon said they are bidding out the construction of another classroom to be funded by the provincial government.

Located in Pag-Asa island, the second biggest island in the Spratlys archipelago, Kalayaan town has a population of 107, 34 of them children, excluding the soldiers assigned in the area.

Aside from a military contingent in Pag-Asa Island, the Armed Forces of the Philippines also guards six other islets and two reefs in the Spratlys.