DepEd All Set for Opening of SY 2014-15

As some 24 million students troop back to their schools on Monday, the Department of Education (DepEd) expressed its readiness for the opening of the school year 2014-2015.

Of this figure, 21 million students are enrolled in public schools while three million are in private schools.

For this school year, DepEd allocated P337 billion to finance the construction of new classrooms worth P37.67 billion, hiring of 33,194 new teacher items and provision of 13,586 water and sanitation facilities, 1,596,921 pieces of furniture and 15,966 computer packages.

The department stated that it has met the backlog for textbooks, classrooms and teachers existing since 2010.

“As of today, we have completely addressed the 2010 backlog on textbooks and school seats, attaining a 1:1 student-to-textbook and student-to-school seat ratio,” the DepEd said in a statement.

For teachers, 102,623 items were created since 2010 alongside with 43,204 kinder volunteers and teachers, effectively addressing the backlog of 145,827.

On the other hand, 66,813 classrooms were already constructed, which is beyond the backlog of 66,800. These classrooms, which consist of one-storey structures to multi-floor buildings, were constructed through the use of national and local government funds as well as donations from the private sector.

However, the DepEd acknowledges that congestion of classrooms still exists in some areas of the country, especially in the National Capital Region (NCR).

“Although the DepEd has budget for new classrooms, we are really concerned that we lack in buildable spaces that will accommodate these facilities,” DepEd Assistant Secretary Jesus Mateo said in an interview with reporters.

Mateo attributed this to the upsurge in the number of students due to late enrollment.

The DepEd official appealed for the assistance of local government officials in allocating public spaces that can be used for the construction of the school facilities.

The department is also committed on implementing alternative learning delivery mode wherein students are provided with modules that they can study in their homes.

“Students need only to go to school once a week for their teachers to check on their accomplished homework,” DepEd Assistant Secretary Tonisito Umali explained.

Furthermore, the DepEd, through its Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (GASTPE) program, provides annual tuition subsidy to high school students who are enrolled in private schools that have the capability to absorb them.

For school year 2014-2015, the department will open 350,000 GATSPE slots to incoming junior high school freshmen nationwide.

The subsidy for students outside Metro Manila will now increase to P7,500 from the previous P6,500 while students in Metro Manila will continue to receive subsidies at P10,000.

The DepEd did not approve the proposed three-day school week as it needs further study on the matter.

Some schools in Caloocan City proposed shortening their class days to relieve the congestion on their classrooms.

Under the proposed schedule, classes will be held on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays with hours extended to comply with the minimum contact time of 180 days.

The DepEd, in coordination with the local government units, will be implementing a “busing” system wherein students from congested schools will be transferred to other schools that will accommodate them.

For instance, a transfer shuttle scheme is being considered in Valenzuela City wherein at least 140 students from the Malinta Elementary School will be transferred to Karuhatan West Elementary School through school vans. The transportation will be provided by DepEd while the expenses will be shouldered by the local government.

A similar arrangement is being conducted in Quezon City and Caloocan City where most of the congested schools are located.

The DepEd assured that classes in the “Yolanda” affected areas will resume on June 2 as it remains committed in the ongoing relief and rehabilitation of the typhoon-stricken areas.

Classes will be held in temporary learning centers such as tents and evacuation centers pending the construction of new buildings.

“We have allocated budget for the installation of blackboards, chalks, tables and chairs for these makeshift learning centers,” Deped Asec Umali said.

The department aims to construct school facilities which can withstand magnitude 9 earthquake and typhoons with maximum sustained winds of 250 kilometers per hour (kph).

A budget of P5 billion was allocated for repairing 17,335 classrooms and P2 billion for the construction of 2,313 new classrooms in the Yolanda-affected areas, particularly in Eastern Visayas, which was heavily damaged by the typhoon.

The department hopes that the repairs and construction of the classrooms will be completed within this year.

It has also coordinated with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Mines and GeoSciences Bureau (DENR-MGB) and the Department of Agriculture for the relocation of schools away from disaster-prone areas.

Among other interventions that will be provided by DepEd in coordination with its partner organizations include delivery of learning kits to 500,000 learners, school feeding program for 434,835 students, provision of around 6.4 million copies of learning materials to affected school divisions and deployment of computer packages to 517 target schools.

Meanwhile, the Department of Education is appealing to public school teachers who are asking for a raise on their salary to wait for the submission of the 2015 budget.

In a statement, Education Secretary Armin Luistro said that the instructors should expect any adjustment on their income on the next year’s budget as this year’s budget has already been set.

Amid the threat of militant group Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) to go on leave should their demands for salary increase be not acted upon, Luistro appealed to the teachers to “always keep the interest of learners in mind.”

While the department recognizes the right of teachers to express their concerns, Luistro urged them “not to take any action that greatly affects the delivery of basic services to our learners.”

“Let us draw the line at abandoning our children,” he said.

According to Asec. Umali, the basic pay of teachers is based on the Salary Standardization Law for government employees.

“We are asking Congress to pass a bill that would amend the provisions of the Salary Standardization Law,” Umali said.

The DepEd official stated that the department is considering the regularization of teachers hired by LGUs and volunteer-teachers in kindergarten.

Qualified teachers will be given national government positions so that they could avail of the benefits enjoyed by regular government employees.

Oplan Balik Eskwela

To ensure the smooth opening of classes, the DepEd activated its Oplan Balik Eskwela (OBE) which is aimed at addressing problems commonly encountered during this period to ensure that pupils/students are properly enrolled and are able to attend school by the first day of classes.

The department, in coordination with various government agencies involved in school opening, created an OBE Interagency Task Force to craft measures that would address concerns such as peace and order, traffic management, price stability of school supplies, preparation of school buildings and roads, medical and emergency services, public transportation, weather outlook, etc.

DepEd has also set up its OBE Information and Action Center (IAC) that will serve as an avenue for parents, students and other concerned citizens to relay their complaints, requests and suggestions.

The concerns that are handled by the IAC include insufficient credentials/records for transfer, inquiries on enrollment policy, concerns on the implementation of the K to 12 curriculum, distribution of textbooks and schoolbooks.

The IAC, located at the DepEd’s Bulwagan ng Karunungan in Ortigas, Pasig City will run until June 7, 2014. (By Aerol B. Patena (PNA) SCS/ABP)