Marawi will open classes on June 4 with the rest of the country —DepEd

Department of Education (DepEd) Undersecretary Jesus Mateo on Tuesday said Marawi City will open classes on June 4 with the rest of the country.

"Pero 'yung iba, kailangang itayo 'yung mga eskuwelahan kaya magtatayo muna ng temporary education centers, pero hindi naman lahat," Mateo said in an interview on Unang Balita.

"Kaya meron pa rin tayong estudyante na tuloy pa rin sa karatig lugar," he added.

May 23 marks the first anniversary of the Marawi siege, a five-month incursion of the Maute Group whose attempts to establish an Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant chapter failed due to government intervention.

DepEd has reached out to communities to protect teachers assigned to conflict-afflicted areas as they are still prone to kidnapping from armed groups.

"Ang isang problema natin ay 'yung mga guro natin ay kinikidnap. Kaya ang sabi namin sa community, protektahan natin ang mga guro. Guro 'yan ng mga anak ninyo," Mateo said.

Elsewhere, classroom ratios continue to be a problem with urban areas even as they improved throughout the years.

Building codes and the long bureaucratic process made it difficult to demolish and rebuild old public schools to accommodate more students.

Rising real estate prices also made it difficult to buy new lots to build new schools or facilities, while schools that can be improved upon require soil testing to ensure the strength of its foundations.

"'Yung iba diyan, hindi mo namang pupwedeng i-demolish 'yan hangga't ipahintulot ng mga kinauukulan kasi kapag ginawa mo 'yan kakasuhan ka," Mateo said.

Classroom ratios for schoolyear 2018-2019 are 1:35 for elementary students and 1:43 for secondary level students.

"Ang problema lang natin dito ay 'yung mga magulang ayaw ilipat sa mas malapit na eskuwelahan na meron namang mga space. Malaki pa 'yung absorptive capacity," Mateo commented.

Meanwhile, the government's hiring scheme since K-12 was implemented in 2013 resulted in the recruitment of 75,000 teachers from kinder to Grade 12 in 2018 alone.

Salaries for public school teachers range from P6,000 to P20,000 plus allowances and a small raise from the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law. —Rie Takumi/KG, GMA News