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By Maila Ager
Among the myriad problems facing the education
system, the lack of basic facilities like classrooms, desks and
chairs stands out.
The problem worsens because most public schools
double as evacuation centers of barangay multipurpose halls for the
country’s poorer local government units.
This year some classes will be conducted in
schools used as evacuation centers by displaced families in the
area, because the government could no longer fund the establishment
of temporary classrooms, Education Undersecretary Miguel Luz said.
“We don’t even have enough money to build
the regular schools, so naturally, we can’t build temporary
shelters for them,” he said, noting that the problem is acute in
the war-torn areas of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
However, conditions in the ARMM do not even
approximate the poor physical conditions of schools in Central
Visayas.
According to the initial report of the Basic
Education Information System, school divisions in Bohol, Cebu,
Dumaguete City, Lapu-Lapu, Mandaue, Negros Oriental, Siquijor,
Toledo City, Bayawan, Danao, Tagbilaran, Talisay and Tanay cities
will suffer an average of 1:50 ratio of instructors on the secondary
level, and in the Ilocos region, grade-school pupils will enjoy an
average of 1:29 ratio of instructors to pupils.
Assistant Secretary Maria Lourdes de Vera also
admitted that the shortage of chairs and classrooms will be felt
practically by all public schools nationwide.
The 411,769 classrooms and 12.8 million seats
nationwide are simply not enough to accommodate the 17 million
students nationwide.
“We will have a scenario of some schools
having half of the class seated in the chairs and the other half on
the floor. Other pupils may have to bring their own chairs,” de
Vera said.
Another worst scenario that can be expected to
play itself out in many schools when regular classes open on June 16
is students attending classes under a mango tree.
Education Undersecretary Ramon Bacani said this
situation happens in schools with severe shortages of
schoolbuildings aggravated by the influx of late enrollees.
“It’s really a problem when there are late
enrollees because the class size suddenly increases,” he said.
In response, the education department allows
some schools to hold double-session classes in a single day. The Old
Balara Elementary School in Quezon City, for example, even has three
sessions a day. Some students end their classes and head home late
in the evening.
De Vera said President Arroyo encouraged the
holding of double shifts in public schools when she met with
education officials on the first day of school Monday.
The President, she said, acknowledged the lack
of funds to build additional schoolhouses this year.
With a budget of P104 billion this year, the
education department remains dependent on foreign-assisted projects
like the Third Elementary Education Project (TEEP), Education
Facility Improvement Project with the Japanese government,
Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industries
Inc. and the Secondary Education Development and Improvement
Project.
The TEEP, funded by the government with loans
from the Word Bank and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation,
built 1,633 new classrooms and repaired 4,633 dilapidated ones in
the country’s poorest provinces during the past 16 months.
The construction of 609 more classrooms and
repair of another 893, according to TEEP deputy project manager
Yolanda Quijano, have been going on since April 30, 2003. All
repairs are scheduled for completion by the end of June.
Meanwhile, Education Undersecretary Jose Luis
Gascon said President Arroyo will soon issue an executive order
allowing the teaching of Arabic, Islamic values and Muslim history
in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Education Secretary Edilberto de Jesus has also
coordinated with the government of Brunei to draw up a major
comprehensive program for teachers in the madrasahs, or Islamic
schools.
With the expected executive order, the madrasah
will formally be introduced in the national curriculum of Philippine
education. It was one of the issues discussed at a high-level
meeting in Malacañang a few weeks ago, Gascon said.
Christians living in Muslim communities may
either take or pass up Muslim subjects.
Muslim leaders, however, insist that the
teaching of Islam be included also in the curriculum, according to a
reliable source in the education department.
The Constitution allows the voluntary teaching
of religion in public schools as long as it is taught outside formal
school hours, Gascon pointed out.
Because of the contribution of the Muslim
community to the country, the government believes there is a strong
basis to give full attention to the educational needs of the Muslims
and other ethnic communities living in the war-torn areas in
Mindanao.
The education department, for instance, plans to
get textbooks on a regional basis to consider the cultural
sensitivities of Islamic values.
Executive Director Soccoro Pirol of the
Instructional Materials Council the department assured that the
delivery of textbooks in Mindanao will come on time from June 30 to
July 27.
In terms of distribution of teachers, the
632,133 students in 13,017 schools (as of May 26) in ARMM areas will
have an average of 1:40 ratio to teachers. Half of the students,
however, will be lucky enough to have a convenient seat in the
classrooms.
Bacani told The Times that school heads in Lanao
del Norte are considering the mosques and madrasahs as temporary
classrooms of the students until armed conflict between military
forces and Muslim secessionists ends.
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