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Friday, March 29, 2024

Shortage of classrooms feared

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AS many as 67,849  more classrooms are needed to accommodate 20 million students nationwide when  the new school year opens on June 1, according to  Rep. Antonio  Tinio of ACT Teachers party-list.

Apart from the chronic shortage of classrooms and books, heavy  traffic and a problematic transport system would make the school opening chaotic, other

groups said.

The Department of Education (DepEd)  is bogged down in issues and delays in the implementation of the government’s School Building Program,.

Tinio said government has finished building only 7,062 classrooms as of April 2015, citing documents submitted to the House Committee on Appropriations.   

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“This means that DepEd met only 16 percent of the 43,183 classrooms targeted by its 2014 budget (P37.67 billion, Basic Education Facilities Fund for Construction of Classrooms), translating to a shortage of 36,121 units,” Tinio said at a news conference.       

Including, however, the 31,728 rooms targeted by the 2015 budget, the total classroom gap balloons to 67,849, with an even more dismal completion rate of 10 percent, Tinio said.

“Because of the slow implementation of DepEd’s school building program, a massive shortage remains in the face of a huge demand for classrooms,” Tinio said.     “This low completion rate in classroom construction surely spells disaster for the public school system already burdened by K to 12.     It will also deprive our students and teachers of sufficient, safe, and secure environments that facilitate teaching and learning,” he added.

“It’s clear that, even with funds available, Deped does not have the capacity to construct the massive number of classrooms required to address the classroom shortage before the full implementation of K to 12 in 2016. This further strengthens our call for the suspension of K to 12,” Tinio said.

Meanwhile, Senator Cynthia Villar urged the Philippine National Railways to resume operations before the school opens in June.

 With the opening of classes, Villar said there will be an influx of passengers who will ride the PNR trains. 

“We cannot depend on the LRT and MRT     to transport  the students safely due to the incidents regularly happening there,“ Villar said.

She said PNR trains should be fully operational with the guarantee that passengers will be safe and that mechanisms are in place to ensure structural integrity of the tracks, bridges, and station facilities.

She also cited the need for the cheapest mode of transportation that can carry more people.

Compared to jeepneys and buses that charge P2 per kilometer,     she said PNR provides the cheapest mode of transportation by charging only 71 centavos per kilometer.

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