Budget for school admin buildings, faculty rooms sought

MANILA, Philippines — Even before the issue of toilets being converted into faculty rooms in some public schools came out, the Department of Education (DepEd) said it has been trying to address the problem by seeking funding for the construction of new administrative buildings.

Education Undersecretary Nepomuceno Malaluan, in response to various concerns over the reported lack of faculty rooms in some schools, said they have proposed to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to include budget for the construction of buildings that would include faculty rooms.

“In the past, DepEd’s priority had been the building of classrooms. Excess classrooms may be used as faculty rooms; however, in schools with classroom shortage, this happens,” Malaluan posted on Twitter, referring to cases wherein teachers have to use other school facilities such as toilets as temporary faculty rooms.

“DepEd is working to address this by including in the 2020 budget proposal to DBM for the construction of admin building,” he added.

The agency drew flak last week after photos of a comfort room converted into a faculty room in Bacoor National High School went viral on social media.

Officials initially downplayed the issue, saying the teachers were given other options such as the library, guidance center and the advisory classrooms as temporary faculty rooms.

DepEd said the situation arose when the school implemented its decision to move to single-shift classes this school year. 

“This resulted in faculty rooms (intended originally as classrooms) needing to be converted back into additional classrooms to realize the policy. The school has an enrollment of more than 7,000 learners,” it added.

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) later said the case is not isolated, releasing other photos showing similar situations in other schools in Metro Manila.

“It almost appears as though there is a surplus of comfort rooms in schools, but the reality is most of these restrooms are out of order or lack water supply,” the group said.

“This attests to the enormity of the infrastructure and utilities problem in public schools, which only adds to the dehumanizing work setup of teachers,” it added.

The group claimed “initial victory” as the release of the photos supposedly pushed DepEd to recognize the problem.

“We expect and deserve nothing less from the agency than the full and immediate materialization of such promise. Especially since the temporary solution they provided of using students’ spaces such as libraries and guidance office can give rise to other problems, and we do not intend on taking away the already scant facilities for students,” ACT said. – With Romina Cabrera