‘DepEd needs continuous allocation’

No more teacher, classroom backlog, but…

MANILA, Philippines — A majority of public schools in the country may no longer suffer from teacher and classroom shortages, but the yearly increase in student population demands continuous allocation for new teacher positions and school buildings, according to the Department of Education.

DepEd officials on Monday said the idea of classroom and teacher “backlogs” are already a thing of the past, saying the allocation for new facilities and teacher posts are additional requirements to improve the quality of education amid rising population.

“Let’s change the terminology. We’re talking here of additional requirements. For this year alone, we’re expecting 27.8 million learners,” Education Secretary Leonor Briones said, referring to the projected 700,000 increase in student population this year.

Undersecretary for operations Jesus Mateo said the estimated 66,000 classrooms currently under construction and the 33,000 new teachers that they expect to hire this year would ensure that the current class sizes would not be affected by the higher student population.

This, however, is being disputed by the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), which claimed that the same old problems would greet students and teachers in the school opening next week.

ACT secretary-general Raymond Basilio said they have monitored cases of classroom congestion and lack of facilities in various schools nationwide.

“We are about to enter yet another school year, but teachers from 15 regions report of the same old problems plaguing their schools,” Basilio said in a statement.

“In Regions I and VI, students and teachers are cramped in makeshift classrooms made out of galvanized iron sheets. In Region V, they hold classes in nipa huts,” he added.

Basilio said those struck by Super Typhoon Yolanda in Region VIII continue to hold classes in plywood classrooms, which expose students and teachers to heat and rains during the school year.

Isolated cases

Mateo said schools that experience congestion primarily lack space for new classrooms, citing cases in Metro Manila and other urban areas.

Most of the unfilled teaching positions, meanwhile, are in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Still, the DepEd official claimed that there were improvements in the basic education sector, noting better teacher- and classroom-student ratio.

From 2016 to 2017, the DepEd said the average teacher-student ratio improved from 1:32 to 1:31 for the elementary level and from 1:26 to 1:25 for the high school level.

Classroom-student ratio, meanwhile, improved from 1:35 to 1:33 for the elementary level and from 1:43 to 1:36 for the high school level.

“We’re trying to introduce smaller sizes of classes, that is why there is a need for increased classrooms,” Briones said. “We’re moving now from access to quality.”