Students pack classrooms, Arroyo admits problems

Elementary and high school students scrambled to find textbooks, chairs and classrooms in various Metro Manila schools as headaches from semesters recurred to mark the opening of another school year Monday. The first day of classes looked like Election Day in some schools in the metropolis, with students not finding their names on the list, and teachers already feeling overworked early in the morning. The situation in schools covered by GMA News and GMA 7's DZBB ran contrary President Arroyo's assertion last week that the Philippines had enough classrooms to accommodate some 20 million students this school year. In a statement issued at around noon on the first day of classes, Mrs. Arroyo changed her stance and admitted that "It will indeed take time before we could fix up the perennial problems of our education system." Fe Hidalgo, officer-in-charge for education, earlier earned the ire of the President for allegedly giving erroneous data that the country needed an additional 6,832 classrooms. Former Education Undersecretary Juan Miguel Luz gave an even grimmer scenario, placing the classroom gap at 74,115. The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) said pupils were "packed like sardines" during the school opening and this was borne out by reports from the field. In Geronimo Santiago Elementary School in Manila, up to three sections were squeezed into a single classroom, something students in Payatas High School in Quezon City also experienced. Curtains and plywood were used to "subdivide" their classrooms into two "sub-classrooms." Each "sub-classroom" had 70 students, nearly double the government's 45 to 1 target ratio. Payatas High School was supposed to hold additional classes in the Sonny Belmonte Hall. However, it was not used because it has not yet been inaugurated, a radio interview revealed. At the Western Bicutan Elementary School in Taguig, trouble accommodating last-minute enrollees reportedly prompted principal Rhea Millana to give their parents a "lecture." Meanwhile in Araullo High School along UN Avenue, Manila, police had to be called to chase away vendors who clogged entrances to the campus, a stone's throw away from the Manila police headquarters. More than 5,000 last-minute transferees from private schools enrolled at the last minute Monday in one school. "We already had more than 5,500 enrollees as of 7 a.m. today. We expect this number to reach up to 6,500," said Ruth Ricaforte, principal of Isabelo delos Reyes Elementary School in Tondo. Ricaforte added that the school has only 132 teachers to handle the growing number of students. She also said the school is still being rehabilitated and prepared for flooding that might come with the rainy season. The school's students held their flag ceremony outside campus, along Zamora Street in Tondo, because the school grounds were still being raised to prepare for the floods. At P. Gomez Elementary School in Manila, principal Leticia Corona said more than 100 of the 4,000 pupils are special-education students. Corona said she also expects teachers to handle more than 50 students as the school has only 168 teachers, with enrollment still ongoing past 6 a.m. CANINE UNITS Senior police officials deployed law enforcement teams and canine units near public schools in the Metro Manila, keeping an eye out for crooks preying on elementary and high school students. The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) also set up checkpoints and chokepoints near schools and even shopping malls and transport terminals. The country's entire police force has been under heightened alert since Sunday for the resumption of classes. "Ang mga plainclothes operatives natin nasa public transport and schools. Meron din tayong Oplan Balik Paaralan assistance desks. It's all systems go," said NCRPO chief Dir. Vidal Querol, who inspected various schools in Metro Manila. Canine units from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) kept watch for drug peddlers who may try to sell contraband to children. "Babantay tayo sa mga pusher. Target ng drug dealer magtulak sa estudyante kasi 'yan ang pinakamadali akitin. Expect namin kakalat ang sindikato pag pasukan," GMA 7's DZBB quoted PDEA head Dionisio Santiago as saying. Santiago said pushers are likely to urge pupils to try drugs like marijuana, methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu), ecstasy, and ketamine. In a related development, ACT spokesman Antonio Tinio said education officials have not only failed to address the problem on school facilities, they also have yet to boost the salaries of public school teachers. "We have seen no salary increase for teachers since 2001. Our salaries are still pegged at P9,939 a month," he said. Tinio also said that despite President Arroyo's insistence that there is no classroom shortage, there are 5.7 million children aged 6 to 17 who cannot afford to go to school.-GMANews.TV