DPWH hit for ‘certifying’ unfinished school
building ‘100 percent complete’
BAGUIO CITY – Several groups here led by students and teachers
assailed government education policies
in a rally here along Session Road with start of classes last week marred by
lack of classrooms and teachers.
The groups decried Monday government’s “abandonment” of
public education, saying no significant improvement in school facilities and
services was done by the Dept. of Education this school year.
This, as many parents complained they were not able to
enroll their children in public schools in Baguio since school authorities told
them they lacked classrooms and buildings.
A teacher said they had to accommodate 70 students in one
classroom due to lack of classrooms.
At Joaquin Smith National High School in Barangay Irisan
here, a 2-storey school building with project cost of P8 million was reportedly
not finished by Bentrix Builders and Sumag Builders Construction but certified
by the Dept. of Public Works and Highways as “100 percent finished.”
The contractor was reportedly paid for the project.
The school principal wrote the Baguio and regional DPWH
offices to make the contractor finish the building to accommodate students but
the letters were reportedly ignored.
“DepEd has never learned its lessons. Same yearly
problems of lack of classrooms, teaching facilities, and teachers remain as if
the past years are just yesterday,” said Luke Bagangan, secretary general of
Anakbayan Cordillera.
Speaking at the protest, Bagangan cited lack of public
senior high schools in the city as manifestation of the government’s neglect of
the education sector.
Data from DepEd revealed only eight public schools or
roughly one out of six high schools will offer SHS.
“From eight public SHS last year, the number remains
eight this academic year. DepEd must explain why the other 14 high schools
refuse to offer SHS tracks,” said Bagangan.
The group said that students were forced to transfer to
private schools because of the incapability of public SHS to absorb students.
Based on DepEd figures, Anakbayan estimated that around
17 out of 20 SHS students in Baguio studied in private schools last year.
The group said five out of every six SHS in the city are
privately-owned.
Bagangan cited the enrollment in Baguio City National
High School, saying the enrollment period was cut short as slots in various
tracks in grade 11 and 12 were filled to the rim.
“Baguio City National High School is the premier SHS in
the region. How can you expect other public senior high schools to provide
decent services if even city high (BCNHS) can’t,” said the youth leader.
The group cited such problems in public schools force
students to enroll in private institutions despite higher costs.
Reports obtained by Anakbayan revealed that several
students in private schools were eyeing to transfer to public schools as many
fail to benefit from the government scholarship grants through the voucher
system.
“Students want to transfer to public schools if given a
chance. Given the conditions that public schools have no ability to absorb
them, it is either they remain in private schools or totally stop schooling,”
said Bagangan.
Meanwhile, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT)
is worried of increases in class sizes in public school senior high
schools.
In a statement, the group cited that the target class
size of 40 was bloated to 50 in BCNHS SHS to accommodate more students.
“While we welcome the decision of BCNHS administration to
absorb more students, we fear that the adjustment of class size, without an
increase in number of teachers and the necessary improvement of facilities,
will make learning and teaching difficult and stressful for students and
teachers,” said Thomas Milanes, spokesperson of the ACT Cordillera.
“The bottomline here is the fact that the government
failed to improve public schools amid the implementation of the K to 12
program. Instead of spending more for public education sector, the government
merely passes their job of providing education (services) to private schools
and in addition, financing them (the private schools) through the voucher
system,” said Milanes.
Milanes also complained of lack of materials for
K12. Modules for the primary grades are complete only for Grade IV. Grade
7 books are still incomplete.
Private school teachers and employees also joined the
protest as more layoffs are expected among private universities and college
since no freshmen and sophomores are admitted yet in most schools.
In the first year of K12 implementation, data gathered by
ACT showed that around 300 private school teachers in Metro Baguio alone
were affected in different forms. Some were retrenched, others were
forcedly retired, and others were absorbed in Senior High School but losing
tenure and with lowered salaries but with more workloads. – With a report from
King Cris P. Pulmano
No comments:
Post a Comment