School's crowded classrooms also have crumbling walls

The President’s scolding of her education chief for reporting higher than what she expected classroom shortage figures may be over and done with, but students in some public schools would still have to endure overcrowded classrooms with crumbling walls and ceilings that leak when it rains. GMA-7’s “24 Oras" on Thursday went to Taguig, Metro Manila to visit the Bagong Tanyag Elementary School, listed by the Department of Education as having the country’s worst case of classroom shortage: 20 dilapidated classrooms for 3,000 students. What GMA-7 reporter Kara David found was a school building in such disrepair it had been earmarked for demolition. “May papel na for demolition (ang classroom) pero hindi ko maipagiba dahil wala pong pagkukuwartuhan (ang mga estudyante)," said Dr. Estrelita Espiritu, school principal. (There are already papers for demolition but we can’t push through with it because we have nowhere to transfer the students.) Christine Pangimbayan, a grade-four student remarked that she never forgets to bring her umbrella during the rainy season – not just for the rains outside but inside the classroom too because the visibly worn-out ceilings let water in. Espiritu, Bagong Tanyag's principal for the past three years, was driven to tears near the end of her narration of the school’s woes. “Kung ganito po ang problema dito, hindi ko malaman kung saan ko ilalagay ang mga bata ko dahil nga po doon sa problema ng wala kaming kuwarto," she said. (I really don’t know where we can put our students. We just don’t have enough classrooms.) Christine had a wish for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo: “Sana po hindi na umulan sa classroom namin," Christine said, smiling. (I hope it no longer rains inside our classroom.) Department of Education Officer-in-Charge Fe Hidalgo reported at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday that the country had a shortage of 6,832 classrooms, based on a student-classroom ratio of 45:1 and a single shift per day. An irked Mrs. Arroyo cut her off, insisting that there was a shortage of only more than 1,000 classrooms in 2004, based on a student-classroom ratio of 100:1 and a two-shift scheme. Hidalgo had to discontinue her presentation and media covering the meeting were ushered out.-GMANews.TV