MALOLOS CITY – The Department of Education (DepEd) and the provincial government of Bulacan has joined forces for a massive project aimed at building 1,942 classrooms in the province in the next 18 months.
This came as Education Secretary Armin Luistro and Bulacan Gov. Wilhelmino Alvarado signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) on Monday afternoon for the P1.8-billion project.
“Bulacan will have a zero backlog in classrooms by May 2013,” Luistro said moments before signing the MOA at the capitol gymnasium here which was witnessed by about 4,000 of the 13,000 public school teachers in the province.
He said that based on the 50-50 scheme, DepEd and the provincial government will build a total of 1,942 classrooms until May 2013.
“DepEd will provide P800-million for the project while Bulacan will provide the same amount as counterpart fund,” Luistro said.
He also assured that the province will have zero backlog in text book and school furniture by June this year.
When asked on the deficit on the number of teachers, Luistro said that it is one of the many problems that DepEd is trying to address.
He said,” sa dami ng problema ng DepEd, iisipin mo na kakailanganin natin ang isang salamangkero to solve it, but we are doing our best,’ he said.
Luistro stressed that addressing backlogs in the country’s basic education cannot be done by focusing on one area alone.
“We have to do it all together, kahit maliit ang impact para hindi mapag-iwanan yung other areas,” the secretary said.
He also expressed gratitude for the cooperation of Bulacan officials led by Gov. Alvarado noting that it is crucial in the implementation of the project.
Luistro even cited that in some provinces, local mayors usually ask for another project different from the project of their governor or congressmen.
For his part, Alvarado said that as early as last year they have consulted DepEd and local officials in the province including mayors and congressmen.
“We all agree that we have to make immediate investment on the province’s education system to improve skills of our young people and be more competitive,” Alvarado said.
With regards to the P800-million counterpart fund, he said that it was part of the P2-billion they loaned from government banks last year.
He explained that the province’s financial resources allowed it to get the loan.
“It’s better to get a big loan and address at least half of our problems that getting smaller loans and fail to address the problems,”Alvarado said.
Meanwhile, Dr. Edna Zerrudo, the division superintendent of DepEd-Bulacan said that at present, the province has over 1,000 classroom deficit, along with books and teachers.
“We hope we can close the backlog in the next two years, at least, the books will be addressed this year and the classrooms by next year,” Zerrudo said.
With regards to teacher-student ration, she said that there are still oversized classes and they need more teachers.
