By Merlina Hernando-Malipot
Several public schools in Metro Manila were forced to implement triple-class shifts due to lack of classrooms when school opened Monday.
Department of Education (MANILA BULLETIN)
DepEd National Capital Region (NCR) Regional Director Wilfredo Cabral, in an interview with the Manila Bulletin, said that at least seven schools in NCR are implementing triple shifting of classes as the School Year (SY) 2019-2020 opened in public schools this week.
Cabral clarified that the implementation of the triple shifting in some NCR schools is just temporary – noting that it is just a “stop gap” or a short-term fix to the growing enrollees in Metro Manila public schools.
“The implementation of the triple shifting, it is not for the entire school year,” Cabral said in a mix of English and Filipino. “We have to understand that there are many school buildings, projects way back in 2016, 2017, and 2018 that we were expecting to be completed,” he explained.
Cabral noted that these schools that implement triple-class shifts waiting for the completion of school buildings scheduled in July, August or September. So, instead of transferring students to another school which – would entail additional expenses from the parents and some logistics – he noted that “our principals decided to do the three-shifts.”
In schools that implement triple-class shifts, Cabral said that principals or school heads may change the configuration in the time allotment “without short-changing the quality.”
Schools that implement double shifts or two classes in one school day has the following schedule: morning classes start at 6 a.m. to 12 noon, and the afternoon shift from 12 noon to 6 p.m.
If classes in one day are divided into three shifts, the schedule will remain the same – only there will “reduction” in time allotment – since the “schools cannot send students very late at night.”
While principals are allowed to modify the schedule for triple shifts, Cabral reminded that they “have to ensure the safety and security of learners.”
As much as possible, learners should not be allowed to go late at night from school because it will lead to another problem. “Should there be instances like that, I asked the principals to establish a strong coordination with the community – the barangay.”
DepEd supervisors in the affected schools were asked to monitor within this week the modified schedules for the triple shifting.
“We give priority to schools that implement double or triple shifting especially so to those with some issues in classrooms, teachers and others,” Cabral said.
In the seven schools that implement triple shifting, Cabral said that there were some of them that have been implementing the modified class scheduled since the previous years.
The Payatas B Elementary School in Quezon City, for instance, has been holding triple-class shifts in the past school years.
Another school that implements triple shifting is the Bagong Barrio Elementary School in Caloocan City which has a bigger increase in enrollment this school year compared to SY 2018-2019.
Cabral said that in the NCR alone, DepEd is about 3.3 million students in all 16 divisions. He noted a significant increase in most Metro Manila schools. For instance, the Signal Village National High School (SVNHS) saw an increase in enrollment of over 1,000 students. In 2018, the school had only around 8,000 students but for SY 2019-2020, it is expecting at least 9,700 enrollees.
Given this, Cabral said that principals only have few options to accommodate the increasing number of enrollees in public schools: “to bloat the class size more than the standard or do the triple shifts.”
Despite the implementation of triple shifting in some NCR schools, DepEd said that this is “not a reflection of the entire public school system.”
Data from DepEd showed that a total of 66,050 classrooms – accumulated in the last five years – are still being constructed. DepEd Undersecretary and Spokesperson Annalyn Sevilla said that these are scheduled to be completed and delivered within the year. In 2019, she noted that DepEd is set to construct 4,000 additional classrooms and around 1,000 technical-vocational laboratories in public schools nationwide.
Currently, there are 47,000 public schools across country that will cater to about 22.8 million expected learners in public schools alone this school year.