Concrete steps taken to resolve issue on the use of restroom as faculty room in Bacoor — DepEd

The Department of Education (DepEd) has said it is exerting all efforts to facilitate a solution acceptable to all officials and teachers as regards the issue in which a restroom was used as a faculty room at Bacoor National High School in Molino, Cavite.

"Concrete steps have been undertaken to resolve any conflict, in the interest of orderly operations of the school," DepEd said in a statement.

The DepEd noted that the issue arose when the school implemented its decision to move to single-shift classes this school year, adding that this resulted in faculty rooms needing to be converted into additional classrooms to cater to more than 7,000 students.

Following this, the DepEd said the principal of the school met with teachers last May 27. Minutes of the meeting indicated that the principal offered the library, the guidance center, and the advisory classrooms as temporary faculty rooms.

However, 11 out of the 236 teachers opted to convert a restroom into a faculty room, the DepEd said.

According to DepEd, these teachers were the ones who complained in the social media.

On Wednesday, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) condemned the school's principal who was reportedly planning to file cases against teacher Maricel Herrera who shared photos of the comfort rooms on her Facebook page.

The group also criticized Education Secretary Leonor Briones for her remark which reportedly dismissed the educator's move as "dramatic" and "touching."

The DepEd said the principal of the school already issued a memorandum to vacate the comfort room.

"The Department would like to ensure that the resulting temporary arrangement will be acceptable to all concerned," the DepEd said.

The Department said it also seeks to address the Bacoor issue and similar concerns "strategically over the long term" by including in its programs the construction of administration buildings.

"DepEd has included in its 2020 budget request to the Department of Budget and Management the funding for an initial batch of such buildings that will have space for principal’s office, faculty room, guidance room, library, and school supplies and equipment storage in times of calamities," the statement said.

Similar concerns

Meanwhile, Herrera argued that there were more than 11 teachers in the entire school who have similar concerns over faculty rooms.

"Hindi lang po 11 ang nagrereklamo. Siguro po mga 80% ng 236 teachers ang nalagay sa iba’t ibang CR or sa ilalim ng hagdan sa iba’t ibang building," she told GMA News Online in a phone interview.

With regards to the criticism from school officials, Herrera stressed that the issue should be focused on raising awareness on the struggles of teachers.

"Hindi po kami nagda-drama. Ipinapakita lang po namin," the teacher said.

"Hindi lang po Bacoor National High School kasi ang may ganitong sitwasyon. Hindi lang po ito drama, isa po itong katotohanan na nangyayari na, nag-e-exist na dati pa at maraming schools ang ganito ang sitwasyon." — RSJ, GMA News