Back-to-School Woes Worst Ever

Per capita budget for education is P5,200 vs Japan’s P210,481, Thailand’s P46,314

The government has adopted a “business-as-usual” attitude in explaining preparations for the school opening. For progressive students and teachers, however, they will take the government to task for its abandonment of education as they provide an alternative analysis of the country’s educational system.

By CARL MARC RAMOTA
Bulatlat.com

Some 22 million elementary and high school students are expected to go back to school on June 6, faced with recurring problems that beset the country’s educational system.

Education Secretary Florencio Abad said that the government is prepared for the school opening. At the same time, progressive students and teachers are also getting ready on Monday to present their alternative analysis of the state of education.

Government data show that 18 million students are enrolled in public elementary and secondary schools and only four million are in private schools.

The dismal state of classrooms and facilities and the severe shortage of teachers in public elementary and high schools nationwide say otherwise. No less than the Department of Education (DepEd) admitted that this school year, classroom shortage is pegged at 51,000; teachers, 27,000; and desks and chairs, five million.

The same problems continue to haunt the education sector year after year.

Worst ever

Cacai Vasquez, 16, an incoming senior at the Camp General Emilio Aguinaldo High School in Quezon City and chair of the high school chapter of the youth group Anakbayan, said that she expects the worst this school year. Instead of being excited about the opening of classes however Vasquez said that it would be another year of discomfort and dismay for public school students.

Inaasahan talaga naming mas malalala ngayon. Kung dati kulang na yung mga upuan, baka ngayon yung natitira sira na” (We are really expecting things would get worse this year. If last year there was already a shortage in chairs, we fear that the remaining few are already damaged), she lamented.

Vasquez said classroom chairs are on a “first come, first serve” basis, especially in a class of 55 students. “May experience ako dati sa school na sobrang dami namin sa loob ng classroom. Ideally 25 lang yung classroom size, pero pinagkakasya kaming 55 na estudyante. Yung building maliit at kulang sa classroom” (I experienced being in an overcrowded classroom. Ideally, the classroom size was only 25, but there were 55 students of us there. The building was small and lacked classrooms).

She complained that the classrooms were not only overcrowded but also poorly ventilated. “Mainit. Grabe talaga, para siyang oven toaster! Kay liit-liit ng room, dalawa lang ang bentilador na hindi pa gumagana ng maayos o minsan sira pa pareho. Hindi siya conducive for learning” (It was hot. It was so bad that we feel like we’re inside an oven toaster. The classroom is so small, there were only two electric fans that either do not function well or do not work at all. It’s not conducive for learning.), she said.

But Vasquez said the situation in other schools was even worse. In San Francisco High School in Quezon City, every classroom accommodates more than 70 students.

Kahit sa Ramon Magsaysay Cubao at sa Rizal High, yung mga schools na napuntahan ko, pati sa stairs may nagka-klase” (Even in Ramon Magsaysay Cubao [High School] and Rizal High [School] which I personally visited, classes are held on the stairs.), she narrated, she said, adding that classes are also held under a tree if there are no other spaces available in the school building.

The actual class size in Philippine public schools is 60 to 110. This pales in comparison to Thailand (18), Malaysia (19), China (24), Taiwan (14), and Indonesia (22).

The shortages in classrooms and chairs worsened with the transfer of students from private to public schools. Many middle-income families that cannot afford the high tuition in private schools are transferring their children to the public schools, which offer free tuition and books.

The DepEd said that public schools nationwide are in decrepit conditions. Some 80 percent of them have no running water, 60 percent have no toilets, 40 percent have no ceilings and 50 percent have no electricity.

Meanwhile, Vasquez said that among the poorest high schools in Quezon City are Batasan National High School, Payatas High School, Culiat High School, San Francisco High School and Balara High School.

Government neglect

Vasquez said that the huge reduction in the education budget is the main reason for the dismal state of public education in the country.

The DepEd’s budget for this year is P112.5 billion ($2.06 billion, based on an exchange rate of P54.49 per US dollar), almost P5 billion ($91.76 million) lower than previous year’s figures.

This year, education spending dropped to 14.9 percent of the national budget from 19.3 percent in 1997. On the other hand, government spending on debt payments shot up from 15.9 percent in 1997 to 33.2 percent of the national budget at present.

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