Classroom, teacher lack back in new school year

Metro Manila, Philippines — Casimiro A. Ynares Sr. Memorial National High School in Taytay, Rizal opened to over 3,700 students on the first day of classes on Monday, July 29, and accommodation may again be a problem sooner than later.

A school official said the number may still rise as enrollment is until next month.

But this early, the school is short of 36 classrooms to accommodate the student population.

“Actually, kami ay on a two-shift schedule. So by the term two-shift, talagang kailangan ng aming school ng building,” Virgilio Santos, principal of Casimiro A. Ynares Sr. Memorial National High School, told NewsWatch Plus.

[Translation: Actually, we’re on a two-shift schedule. So by the term two-shift, our school really needs more buildings.]

Santos said the student population may peak at 4,000 once enrollment is done.

Each classroom now holds as much as 60 students - double the ideal class size. However, the principal fears it could even go beyond.

“May papatak diyan na 65-70. Iyon ang nakikita ko sa ngayon,” he said.

[Translation: The class size could reach 65 to 70. That’s what I’m seeing now.]

Carmona National High School (CNHS) in Cavite is also grappling with a classroom shortage.

Principal Jose Samson Jr. said the school needs 27 more classrooms for over 5,700 students.

“‘Iyan po ang mapait na katotohanan… Bale 120 section po tayo. Thirty section per grade level… Ginawa nating shifting ‘yung Grade 9 at Grade 10,” he said.

[Translation: That’s the sad reality. We have 120 sections, with 30 each per grade. For Grades 9 and 10, we implemented a shifting schedule.]

Construction next year

With the perennial classroom shortage, Education Secretary Sonny Angara said the government hopes to construct new classrooms next year.

He said prospective sites should be validated soon to hit the ground running.

“Nakikita ko iyong pre-early procurement activities na tinatawag. Ginagawa iyan sa Department of Public Works. Sana gawin din namin, in coordination with DepEd and DPWH, mag-coordinate iyong dalawang ahensya,” Angara said.

[Translation: That’s what we call pre-early procurement activities. The public works department is doing it. I hope we do it too, in coordination with DPWH. I hope the two agencies coordinate.]

Based on DepEd data in August 2023, the public school system is short of 159,000 classrooms nationwide.

According to the Basic Education Report by then education chief and Vice President Sara Duterte in January, 3,600 classrooms were built in 2023, a little over half of the target of 6,000 classrooms.

Angara said blended learning gaps should also be addressed.

“Sa ngayon ang internet connectivity ng mga schools, at best 60 to 70%. May 30 to 40% tayo na hindi pa rin konektado, so iyon dapat ang pag-igihan natin,” he said.

[Translation: Right now, internet connectivity in our schools is only at 60 to 70%. There are still 30 to 40% that are not connected. That’s what we need to improve on]

Teacher shortage

Besides classroom lack, some schools are also dealing with a shortage of teachers.

At Carmona National High School, the principal said some subjects lack teachers.

“Sa ngayon po, kulang ako ng teacher sa Araling Panlipunan (AP) at Edukasyon sa Pagpapakatao (ESP) gawa po ng liban po sa mga existing ng subject, meron tayong National Mathematics Program. Add on subject po iyon para tugunan ang problema natin sa numeracy,” said Samson.

[Translation: Right now, we’re short of history and values teachers because apart from the existing subjects, we also have the National Mathematics Program. That’s an add-on subject to address our problem on numeracy.]

Samson said some of their mathematics teachers help non-math majors to prepare materials for the numeracy program.

At Muntinlupa National High School, some teachers also cover subjects beyond their skill sets.

“For example, if nakulangan ng teaching load iyong teacher so what we do is dagdagan namin from other subjects. Let’s say English teacher siya, dadagdagan natin ng ESP, sometimes AP para macomplete load niya,” said Razote Marijo, head teacher.

[Translation: For example, if the teacher lacks a teaching load, what we do is we add other subjects. Let’s say, he is an English teacher. We sometimes add values or history subject to complete his load.]

Angara admits teacher shortage needs to be addressed.

“Like science wala daw tayong mga science specialist ‘e iyong coming PISA exam, science iyon… Saka iyong mga institution na tumutulong diyan, for teacher training in case na wala tayong pamalit agad. At least maturan sila sa subject na tuturuan nila,” he said.

[Translation: Like science, we don’t have science specialists and yet the coming Programme for International Student Assessment Exam (PISA) would be science-based. Also, the institutions are important for teacher training in case we can’t hire more. At least, teachers will be briefed about the subject they’re going to teach.]