Gaps in education resources marred the first day of classes on Monday, Aug. 22, according to teachers’ groups.
Citing reports from its “Bantay Balik-Paaralan” school opening initiative, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines said that large class sizes and classes with no classrooms and teachers hound the first day of school.
“The most basic needs so that classes can be conducted—classrooms, chairs and teachers--- are poorly met,” ACT chairperson Vladimer Quetua said.
“Our general situation now is we have classrooms of 40-50 students, taught by teachers with seven to eight teaching loads plus ancillary duties,” he explained.
Textbooks and modules, he added, are also “sorely insufficient” while the concrete plans on how learning will be conducted “are still not rolled out.”
“How can education recover in this situation?” he asked.
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2022/08/21/ph-schools-to-open-sy-2022-2023-with-face-to-face-classes/
Shortage in classrooms
Just like in previous years, ACT said that classroom shortage remains unresolved as many classes have no proper classroom or still have no classroom.
Based on its monitoring, ACT said that class sizes of 50 to 60 students in many schools in the National Capital Region (NCR) such as Urduja Elementary School and Horacio de la Costa High School in Caloocan City; Bignay National High School in Valenzuela; Sto. Nino National High School in Paranaque; Carlos Albert High School, Batasan Hills High School, Culiat High School, San Bartolome High School, and New Era High School in Quezon City.
ACT said that the situation is the same in Tarlac National High School, Brgy. Pinugay Elementary School in Rizal, Naga City School of Arts and Trade, Brgy Singcang-Airport National High School in Bacolod, Baungon National High School in Bukidnon, and many others, were reported.
In Pasay City West High School, for instance, ACT said that some classes are held at the school gymnasium.
In Curva Elementary School in Cagayan, the school gymnasium, Home Economics room, and computer laboratories were also converted to regular classrooms.
In Balogo Elementary School in Camarines, ACT said that nine classes still have no classroom to use.
“A school in Lagonoy Camarines Sur utilized the condemned Marcos-era building, while a school in Bien Unido Bohol still used the typhoon-damaged classrooms just so that classroom requirements can be met,” ACT said.
Teacher shortage
Aside from gaps in classrooms, teacher shortage was also among the concerns during school opening. “Increased enrolment in some schools, and the retrenchment of teachers in Senior High Schools who did not meet the requirement to pass the board exams five years since they were employed worsened the shortage of teachers,” ACT said.
In Calderon Integrated School, Manila, ACT said that six new sections were added but “there are still no teachers available to teach them.”
The group also reported that an elementary school in Rizal “only has nine teachers to teach more than 700 students.”
ACT said that teacher shortage was also reported in Sta. Elena Elementary School in Camarines Norte, Pavia National High School and Pandac Elementary School in Iloilo, Patalon Elementary School in Zamboanga City, and many others.
Power outage
Meanwhile, ACT said that a power outage struck some parts of Bacolod City that affected Kabugwason Elementary School and other nearby schools.
“Students and teachers of Kabugwason ES gathered at the school gym as they cannot hold classes in dark classrooms,” the group said.
Given this, ACT reiterated its call to the Marcos administration for immediate and decisive actions to address the shortages in education, ensure school health and safety, allocate sufficient funds, and implement a clear and evidence-based education recovery program.
In a separate statement, the Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC) also reported that there is a shortage of classrooms and chairs in many schools.
TDC also pointed out the shortage of teachers, especially those who will handle specialized learning areas such as Kindergarten, Special Education (SPED) at Senior High School (SHS).
Congestion of students and large class sizes were observed in many schools. Given the volume of learners, TDC said that some schools used their covered courts as temporary learning spaces, especially in areas affected by calamities.
Due to gaps in resources, TDC said that many schools are implementing double shifts and even triple shifting.
TDC said that given these conditions, teaching and learning remain challenging this school year, especially for those learners who were under distance in the past two years.
Health and safety concerns
Meanwhile, TDC pointed out that the minimum health and safety protocols were also compromised since implementing social distancing is nearly impossible for schools with high enrollment turnout.
“Wala ring nakatalagang health workers sa mga paaralan kaya dagdag na suliranin ang pagtitiyak sa kalusugan ng mga mag-aaral (There are also no assigned health workers in the schools, so ensuring the health of the students is an added problem),” TDC national chairperson Benjo Basas said.
Address the school opening concerns
Based on the reports from the ground, TDC said that school opening was also marred with confusion on the enrollment system.
Basas said that many parents still opted for last-minute enrollment while others decided to request for a certificate of enrollment on the first days of classes.
While TDC agreed with DepEd in saying that the first day of school opening was generally “peaceful and orderly,” the group urged the agency to address the persistent school opening problems --- particularly the gap in education resources.
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2022/08/22/first-day-of-classes-orderly-and-peaceful-so-far-deped/