CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – Stuffing classrooms with 60 students or more and cutting hours for “non-basic” subjects for two shifting sets of students daily have become inevitable options for the Department of Education (DepEd) in coping with the shortage of 4,047 classrooms in public elementary and high schools in Central Luzon.
DepEd director for Central Luzon Dr. Teofila Villanueva said, however, she has issued strict instructions to all education officials in her region not to reject any student for enrollment despite lack of classrooms.
She also warned teachers against collecting any fees during the enrollment period. This amid reports that a teacher at the Dau Central Elementary School in Mabalacat, Pampanga, has been requiring her pupils to pay P150 for a movie titled “Dead na si Lolo”. She reportedly sold tickets last year but a student did not get any ticket for the showing.
The teacher was reported to have imposed the requirement before releasing documents to enable pupils to enroll anew for the coming school year.
Villanueva urged parents to formally file their complaint on such cases before her office, as she vowed prompt investigation and action on them.
Villanueva downplayed the shortage of classrooms as a major problem in her region. “We have 17 divisions and the lack of classrooms is not really that significant,” she said.
She noted shortage of 1,335 classrooms in the elementary department and 2,722 classrooms in the high school department.
Villanueva said that to cope with such shortage, some classrooms would have to accommodate 60 or more pupils, above the average of 56 pupils per classroom.
She noted that the lack of a total of 4,057 classrooms in Central Luzon was based on the ratio of 45 pupils per classroom.
Accommodating more pupils in a classroom would also solve the problem on teacher shortage, she said.
Data from the regional DepEd’s planning unit also revealed a shortage of some 2,000 public school teachers in Central Luzon for the coming school year.
Villanueva said that shortened hours for non-basic subjects such as music and physical education would also be resorted to, so that each classroom could be used by two sets of students per day.,
“Instead of six hours, the classes for each class would last only four hours,” she said.
But she stressed teaching hours for basic subjects such as mathematics, English, reading and writing would not be shortened.
The DepEd’s planning unit has come out with projections indicating that the public elementary and high school enrollment of 1,746,470 in the last school year is expected to increase to 2,032,472 for the 2010-2011 school year, or 286,002 more.
DepEd figures on annual enrollment have also consistently indicated considerable number of dropouts, particularly in the ranks of those who finish elementary grades.
This could be gleaned from the estimated public elementary school enrollment of 1,420,597 in this coming school year, as against the projected 611,875 high school enrollment, or a difference of 808,722.
Significant dropout rates within the elementary level. In the last school year in Bulacan, which has the biggest public school population in Central Luzon, Grade 1 enrollment was at 63,988, while Grade 6 enrollment was lower at 46,410.
At the high school level, the trend is similar, as shown by statistics in Pampanga where first year high school enrollment last year stood at 32,981, as against fourth year population of only 25,747.
The statistics showed the same trend in all provinces in the region, including Bulacan, Aurora, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Zambales, and Bataan.
The DepEd here has projected that for the school year 2010-2011, public school enrollment will increase to 37,293 in the elementary and 12,925 in high school in Aurora; 378,031 in elementary and 163,045 in high school in Bulacan; 274,850 in elementary and 125,430 in high school in Nueva Ecija; 332,378 in elementary and 138,097 in high school in Pampanga; 184,537 in elementary and 77,647 in high school in Tarlac, and; 113,918 in elementary and 48,522 in high school in Zambales.
Among cities in Central Luzon, San Jose del Monte in Bulacan is expected to host the biggest number of public school enrollees estimated to reach 63,477 in the elementary grades and 26,572 in high school, followed by Angeles City in Pampanga where 50,153 are expected to enroll in elementary and 20,288 in high school levels.
DepEd director for Central Luzon Dr. Teofila Villanueva said, however, she has issued strict instructions to all education officials in her region not to reject any student for enrollment despite lack of classrooms.
She also warned teachers against collecting any fees during the enrollment period. This amid reports that a teacher at the Dau Central Elementary School in Mabalacat, Pampanga, has been requiring her pupils to pay P150 for a movie titled “Dead na si Lolo”. She reportedly sold tickets last year but a student did not get any ticket for the showing.
The teacher was reported to have imposed the requirement before releasing documents to enable pupils to enroll anew for the coming school year.
Villanueva urged parents to formally file their complaint on such cases before her office, as she vowed prompt investigation and action on them.
Villanueva downplayed the shortage of classrooms as a major problem in her region. “We have 17 divisions and the lack of classrooms is not really that significant,” she said.
She noted shortage of 1,335 classrooms in the elementary department and 2,722 classrooms in the high school department.
Villanueva said that to cope with such shortage, some classrooms would have to accommodate 60 or more pupils, above the average of 56 pupils per classroom.
She noted that the lack of a total of 4,057 classrooms in Central Luzon was based on the ratio of 45 pupils per classroom.
Accommodating more pupils in a classroom would also solve the problem on teacher shortage, she said.
Data from the regional DepEd’s planning unit also revealed a shortage of some 2,000 public school teachers in Central Luzon for the coming school year.
Villanueva said that shortened hours for non-basic subjects such as music and physical education would also be resorted to, so that each classroom could be used by two sets of students per day.,
“Instead of six hours, the classes for each class would last only four hours,” she said.
But she stressed teaching hours for basic subjects such as mathematics, English, reading and writing would not be shortened.
The DepEd’s planning unit has come out with projections indicating that the public elementary and high school enrollment of 1,746,470 in the last school year is expected to increase to 2,032,472 for the 2010-2011 school year, or 286,002 more.
DepEd figures on annual enrollment have also consistently indicated considerable number of dropouts, particularly in the ranks of those who finish elementary grades.
This could be gleaned from the estimated public elementary school enrollment of 1,420,597 in this coming school year, as against the projected 611,875 high school enrollment, or a difference of 808,722.
Significant dropout rates within the elementary level. In the last school year in Bulacan, which has the biggest public school population in Central Luzon, Grade 1 enrollment was at 63,988, while Grade 6 enrollment was lower at 46,410.
At the high school level, the trend is similar, as shown by statistics in Pampanga where first year high school enrollment last year stood at 32,981, as against fourth year population of only 25,747.
The statistics showed the same trend in all provinces in the region, including Bulacan, Aurora, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Zambales, and Bataan.
The DepEd here has projected that for the school year 2010-2011, public school enrollment will increase to 37,293 in the elementary and 12,925 in high school in Aurora; 378,031 in elementary and 163,045 in high school in Bulacan; 274,850 in elementary and 125,430 in high school in Nueva Ecija; 332,378 in elementary and 138,097 in high school in Pampanga; 184,537 in elementary and 77,647 in high school in Tarlac, and; 113,918 in elementary and 48,522 in high school in Zambales.
Among cities in Central Luzon, San Jose del Monte in Bulacan is expected to host the biggest number of public school enrollees estimated to reach 63,477 in the elementary grades and 26,572 in high school, followed by Angeles City in Pampanga where 50,153 are expected to enroll in elementary and 20,288 in high school levels.
