Comprehensive programs vs classroom shortage sought

MANILA, Philippines — The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) is urging the Department of Education (DepEd) to tackle the classroom shortage problem with more comprehensive and sustained programs instead of “band-aid” solutions.

While the ACT welcomed the DepEd’s announcement to build 15,000 climate-resilient classrooms, the group scored how the number represents a fraction of the classrooms that public schools lack.

“While we appreciate Secretary (Sonny) Angara’s initiative to address our classroom shortage, we must point out that this represents only six percent of the 250,000 classrooms needed to implement the DepEd-prescribed class size of 40 to 45 students. But definitely, more are needed to achieve the ideal 1:35 teacher-student ratio,” ACT chairman Vladimer Quetua said.

Aside from building climate-resilient classrooms, the government should also complement such programs with hiring more teachers, providing sufficient learning materials and ensuring proper maintenance of public school facilities, according to the group.

“We challenge the Marcos Jr. administration to prove its commitment to education by realigning its priorities and channeling more funds to address the basic needs of our education system,“ Quetua said.

Earlier this month, Angara said the DepEd is eyeing partnerships with corporations to thin out the classroom backlog that has left students and teachers in many public schools grappling with poor learning conditions.

Angara disclosed that the agency would be tapping public-private partnerships to build thousands of classrooms at a time, saying the construction of new school buildings and classrooms would be a priority.

However, the ACT reiterated its warning against public-private partnerships, saying allowing corporations to take on school and classroom construction projects is “a dangerous step toward further commercialization of public education.”