EDITORIAL - Nagging problem

It remains doubtful whether the problem on classroom scarcity in Cebu would soon be solved. Therefore, we can only say that many classes across the province would remain to be held under the trees and inside sports complexes in the next school year.

As reported in The FREEMAN days ago, an education official in the region said Cebu is in need of thousands of classrooms for the next school year. Department of Education-7 information officer Clara Falconi said a total 5,676 classrooms are needed in towns and cities across the province. 

The need for additional classrooms in the province, Falconi said, is being included in their proposal for this year. But we do not know yet whether there's funding awaiting such proposal. The education official did not specify if the proposal for the next fiscal year already has the budget.

It is undeniable that the education department has long been saddled with such problem. In far-flung areas, students had to endure attending classes in roofless venues given the unavailability of classrooms, aside from hiking for hours traversing mountains, crossing rivers just to reach the school.

Even President Aquino, in his visit to Cebu last Friday, admitted that there is acute shortage of classrooms across the country and that such problem is very alarming. He said the state budget can only afford to fund building of 8,000 classrooms for the entire country every year.

Now, based on the president's statement, it's highly doubtful if Cebu's classroom shortage can be solved within a year. In fact, such problem can never be solved even after Aquino's term would end three years from now.

Many even see there's really no end in sight to the problem. That is because as the student population gets more and more bigger, classroom shortage will also become more serious.

Since the government has been boasting about the country reaping the benefits of its growing economy, why can't the Aquino administration focus on increasing the budget for the education department in order to solve this nagging problem once and for all?