A School Built from Scratch

The Vicente P. Casas Sr. Memorial High School in Placer, Masbate has two classrooms for its 460 students.  Majority of the students have to bring their own chairs. The school has only four blackboards, two chairs and four tables for its nine teachers. The students’ books are kept in a makeshift library that doubles as a visitors’ lounge. They are carefully positioned far away from under the holes of the library’s roof. But during heavy rains, they have to be transferred to another place altogether.

BY PERRY M. CALARA
KAIBA News and Features
Posted by Bulatlat.com  

First year students (left) are packed inside a warehouse-classroom at Sta. Cruz Agricultural HS in Palanas, Masbate while students at the Quinayangan High School, also in the same province, have to endure a classroom without walls (right) . The Vicente P. Casas Memorial High School, also in Masbate, would have looked like this, if not for its students who brought salidang.  Photos by Perry Calara/Kaiba News and Features

As a school head, Mr. Florante Ngoho encounters many difficulties in running the school, which first opened in 2002. One of the challenges is how to accommodate 460 students in a two-classroom building.

Since it is almost impossible to teach 460 students in just two rooms, Ngoho had to organize the stakeholders – parents, students, and teachers – to build makeshift classrooms. With the help of 30 students and one teacher, he went to his small farm to get the wooden posts for his makeshift classrooms. And for the roofing and walls, he said "We assigned the students to bring salidang” (weaved coco-leaves).

Most of the students are children of farmers around VPCSMHS. Some of them have to walk for a few kilometers just to get to the school. The school also has to require majority of the students to bring their own chairs as the government provided only 50 chairs.

The school has only four blackboards, two teacher's chairs and four teacher's tables for the nine teachers. Ngoho solicited all the tables.

Their books are being kept in a makeshift library that doubles as a visitors’ lounge. The books are positioned away from the holes of the library’s roof. During heavy rains they have to find a place where they can safely keep the books.

This school year, Ngoho expects the enrolled students to reach 620. All he can say about the situation is, "Problema nga, e” (That's a problem). But Ngoho added, "Hindi naman namin pwedeng tanggihan ang mga batang gustong pumasok sa paaralan" (We cannot refuse children who want to go to school).

If Ngoho’s projection materializes, the student-teacher ratio at VPCSMHS would be around 69 students per teacher.

Lack of budget

Only four teachers at VPCSMHS, including Ngoho, have regular items. For the other teachers, Ngoho has to lobby with the municipal and provincial local government units to allot funds from the Special Education Fund (SEF) for their salaries. These teachers have to survive with a monthly net pay of PhP2000 (U.S.$35.71) per month.

But still, teachers at VPCSMHS consider themselves lucky when they compare their salary with some of the teachers at the Palanas Agricultural High School (PAHS), a public located in Santa Cruz, Palanas, Masbate. The two receive only PhP1500 (U.S.$26.79) a month, sourced from the municipal SEF.

When asked about her daily expenses, the Math teacher, who is one of those receiving PhP1500, readily answered, "Kulang-kulang sa PhP50: ang pamasahe ko ay PhP14, ang ulam ko ay PhP15 to PhP20. Nagbabaon na lang ako ng kanin." (A little less than PhP50: my fare costs PhP14, my viand is about PhP15 to PhP20. I just bring rice from home).  

Ngoho pays for the trainings of his teachers out of his own pocket. Because of the lack of teachers, many of them teach subjects outside their fields, such as English teachers teaching Math or Science. To cope, the teachers enhance their knowledge and skills through seminars and trainings.

Since VPCSMHS has no funds allotted for its Maintenance, Operations, and Other Expenses (MOOE), Ngoho pays for other activities as well. He spends for all of his travels and trainings. He estimates that for the last two years he has spent about PhP40,000 (U.S.$714.29) from his own pocket.

If Ngoho has an official business in Masbate City, 90 kilometers from Placer, he would use his own motorbike to save on costs. Using his motorbike costs him only PhP70 (U.S.$1.25) while the transport fare to the city amounts to about PhP200 (U.S.$3.57).

Meanwhile, Ngoho proudly narrates, "Iyang classrooms naman na iyan (pointing at the two classroom-building) ay na-solisit namin sa Parent-Teacher Association at LGU. Ang deep-well namin ay na-solisit sa governor." (We solicited the funds and materials to build those classrooms from the Parent-Teacher Association and the LGU. The funds for our deep-well’s construction was solicited from the governor).

Their basketball court is also being built from what he calls a "community-solicitation" effort. Ngoho said, "Madali na itong magawa,” pointing to the unfinished basketball court where small rocks are piled. “Pinapadala ko na lang ang mga bata ng tig-limang maliliit na bato araw-araw para iambag sa construction." (We will have this finished soon. I have asked the children to bring five small rocks everyday as their contribution to the construction of the court.)

Ray of hope

Ngoho saw greater hope for his school when it became a beneficiary of the Secondary Education Development and Improvement Project (SEDIP).

SEDIP is a project of the Department of Education (DepEd) for poor provinces like Masbate and funded by the Asian Development Bank, Japan Bank for International Cooperation, and government.

SEDIP has allotted about PhP160 million for school buildings in Masbate. However, Ngoho has to raise the 25% counterpart required by the project. Among the possible sources he has scouted are the LGUs, the congressmen's Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), non-government organizations and philanthropic individuals.

Smiling philosophically, Ngho said, “Habang may buhay, sige lang." (As long as we can, we will go on trying.) Bulatlat.com

(Note: For those who are interested to help Ngoho’s school and other high schools in Masbate, please call or email Bulatlat.com or the writer, Perry M. Calara at  CP no. 09209112835)

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