ANGELES CITY- Classes in public elementary and high schools in Central Luzon will open with a shortage of 10,466 teachers and 7,232 classrooms amid warnings to school principals who impose fees or other expenses that burden parents.
Data obtained by Punto from the planning division of the regional office of the Department of Education (DepEd) indicated that a total of 1,352,542 pupils are expected to troop to public elementary schools throughout Central Luzon this school year.
The regional office also projected a total of 624,973 students in public high schools in Central Luzon’s six provinces.
The projections were based on two percent annual increase in elementary school population in the last five years and one percent increase in high school population in the region.
This, even as Jesus Zerrudo, assistant chief of the elementary education division of the DepEd regional office, warned principals of public schools against imposing unauthorized fees and school uniforms on students.
There have been reports of public school officials “suggesting” elaborately designed uniforms especially for girls, apparently to compel parents to buy from one supplier, in lieu of inexpensive sets of school uniforms, consisting of white blouses and blue skirts, readily available in local markets.
Zerrudo urged parents to report violations of DepEd guidelines to education division superintendents. “The superintendents are authorized to act directly on such complaints or even forward the complaints directly to the DepEd central office,” he noted.
DepEd data indicated a shortage of 4,918 classrooms in the elementary level in Central Luzon, and another shortage of 2,314 in the high school level.
DepEd documents also showed lack of 2,871 elementary school teachers, and 7,595 high school teachers.
New teachers are reportedly being hired to bring down the number of shortages, but no one from the regional DepEd office could say how many are to be taken in, as the hiring has been relegated to the responsibility of the 18 education division offices throughout Central Luzon.
Each province and city in the region has its own education division office.
