Is there or isn’t there a classroom shortage?

It’s basic math really. Though I wonder if our papers will be able to concisely report what the distortion is all about.

Speaking of numbers not meaning anything (ok off topic, but slightly related anyway), reminds me pasts SONA when there are promises to create 1M, 2M, 5M new jobs. don’t know why the government can’t just target a low unemployment rate. Absolutes hide population/working population growth.

Mr. Miguel Luz is right: there is a shortage. Even Gloria’s “doctored” number(acceded to by Fe Hidalgo), there is still a 1,000 classroom shortage. There’s no question about that.

I know that the government is doing something to solve the problem(the TEEP program that was started by Mr. Angara yet, if I’m not mistaken), but apparently it has not completely solved he problem.

My question though for those who know is: When the schoolrooms are used twice(two shifts), does it mean that the teachers also teach two shifts in a day? Each teacher handling two sets of classes a day? If yes, then the teachers are overworked, which is not conducive to good learning. More so on the 2nd shift when the teachers are already tired.

If I were Education Secretry Hidalgo, I would not think twice of leaving my post after getting a tongue-lashing from the Boss. First, as the Secretary, you are supposed to know your department more than anybody else. And if your boss who know nothing about, gives you her “outburst” because she doesn’t like the situations and don’t look good for her-toobad.

Doubling the number of students or pupils per classroom or per class is not the solution. The solution could have been building more classrooms and training and hiring more teachers.

She’s dreaming about that “enchanted kingdom” for her people within 20 years (getting the First World status) whereas she started on the wrong foot. The “proper Education of that Future Occupants of that Kingdom”.

While , we in the first world, are trying hard to reduce the number of students per class further to 20 from average of 30, she’s doubling hers from 50 to 100 and double shifting the already tired and overworked teaching force. To me it looks like a reverse march to that “dream” of hers..

did someone say “yung dagdag, yung dagdag” ?

Kaya nga Enchanted Kingdom by 2020. By now dapat na kayong masanay sa fairy magic tricks using GMAs magic wand! HAHAHA aray!

There always has been classroom shortage.It will take several years to solve the problem.perhaps because the student population grows faster then classrooms can be built.
Perhaps, it’s better to have a bigger budget for DepEd to be able to address the problem.
The temporary solution of 2 shifts & bigger number of students per class must be reduced.
Because such a situation has a strong negative effect on the quality of education.
Particularly in the city there is also a problem where to expand a school for more classrooms.

I think at the end of the day it boils down to numbers & economics.
DepEd is just one department that needs the funds just like every other department is also underfunded.
Health care & social services are equally as important.
Just as are other goverment agencies.
It seems to me the goverment is trying to leave w/in its means.
It seems to me goverment is trying to avoid having to barrow money so as to stop a vicios cycle.
For DepEd alone it’s serious money that can’t be addressed alone w/ goverment revenues.
In a way it’s better to end the year w/ a surplus.
That also means goverment is barrowing less & when goverment barrow less there is also less strain on the interest rates & inflation.
It’s really all about a balancing act & not a popularity contest.
Personaly, I can only be glad that i’m not in a position to make difficult calls of doomed if you do doomed if you don’t.

According to GMA’s Govt:

“There is no shortage of Classrooms, only a wrong formula used”

“There is no Job Shortage, only picky Filipinos who want high paying jobs.”

“There is no killing spree on activists, only Communists killing their own.”

I suppose it’s high time for us to say:

“There is no Government!”

[…] PRESIDENT Arroyo’s unusual formula may have wiped out the demand for new classrooms this new schoolyear—at least on paper—but it’s premature to declare classroom shortages a thing of the past. […]

i am impressed. imagine, the perennial problem of classroom shortage suddenly solved by a simple mathematical calculation only? wow, at no extra cost thus a big savings for the state’s coffer (no need to construct extra classrooms). brilliant solution? instead of 45 make it 100 student per class and do double shifts (and we are wondering & complaining about the deteriorating quality of our education). simpleng math formula lang pala ang kailangan at solved na ang problema. but still w/ this formula applied, the hard headed dep-ed acting secretary insisted on a classroom shortage of 6,832 on her report (in front of media). what followed is another tantrum ang tongue-lashing from the puppet master (exit media please). and the result? well, later on the dep-ed oic facing the press again acknowledged her mistake, “there’s no classroom shortage (just 1,000 actually which is manageable), i failed to account the new school buildings under construction now.” so data sheets corrected (or corrupted?) via madam’s tantrum and sigaw “yung dag-dag, yung dag-dag! @#%$*!”. galing naman talaga ni madam.

Bakit hindi sinama sa The Solutions ang pagkontrol sa population growth? O kahit man lang ang paghingi ng tulong sa simbahan na mag-ambag sa pagpapagawa ng mga paaralan mula sa kanilang bilyong pondo? Taun-taon na lang napapagusapan ang kakulangan ng “classrooms” tuwing malapit magbukas ang klase, sa mga ganitong panahon naman tikom ang bibig ng simbahan. Sa palagay ko, kahit ano pang solusyon ang ipalabas nila kung bawat taon dumadami ang batang papasok sa eskuwelahan, hindi pa rin makakasapat yan. Tanungin natin ang simbahan baka naman maaaring gamitin ang kanilang gusali kahit pansamantala lang habang may kakulangan sa classrooms. Kung ayaw nila, mag-donate na lang sila para sa pagtatanim ng puno ng akasya.

mula sa 45 pupils per class na hindi mo maituro lahat ng subject sa isang araw dahil sa sobra ingay,may naaaway kasi masikip 3 bata sa isang upuan,kulang ng aklat(1 book for 2 pupils) magulo o kaya hindi naririnig sa hulihan kasi ang ka klase ay nagdadaldalan.mayamaya,may ipapadalang note may emergency meeting,bigyan ng seatwork ang mga bata,pupuntahan ka ng pupil mo magsusumbong may umiyak,sinuntok o sinaksak ng lapis ang likod,etc…etc…etc…walong oras mong kasama ang mga batang ibat-ibang ugali,pag uwi ng bahay, magluto,maghugas ng pinggan,then uupo susulat ng lesson plan makakatulog mga pasado 11:00 gigising ng 5:00 magluluto,aasikasuhin yon anak na nag-aaral,pupunta sa paaralan… sa 5 araw ikaw ay magtuturo,minsan nauubos ang pasensiya o magagalit dahil sa pupil mong pilyo,makulit,atbp…ngayon gusto ni gloria na gawin 50 pupil per class? siya kaya ang magturo sa elementarya. tignan natin kaya ba niya…. mag isip-isip ka oi,ni hindi mo man lang itinaas yon sahod namin,wala kang iniisip kung di yon mga sundalo para huwag kang iwan kong may gulong darating.

Speaking of quality of education vis-a-vis classroom-teacher-students/pupils in the Philippines: This is a true story: Back in 1961 when I was in Grade 1, our barrio (not yet barangay) has only one classroom and one teacher teaching Grades 1-4. (1st column Grade One; 2nd column Grade Two; 3rd column Grade Three & 4th column Grade Four) The teacher has to teach one hour for each Grade both in morning & afternoon sessions making it only two hours learning time a day. All the pupils has to remain even when their teaching time is over until the morning or afternoon session is over. The good thing about it is that while the teacher is teaching each class, everybody has to listen even if you don’t belong to that Grade. And if say you are in Grade 2 and she’s teaching Grade 3 or 4 you can participate and so in effect you are getting an “advance” studies. This teaching arrangement has been the same for years not only in our barangay but in all other small barrios too. (For Grade Five and up you have to go to the town. After I graduated HS I went to Manila (as usual) where I stayed for most of my life until I went abroad.)

In 2002 I went on vacation (after 10+ years abroad) to this barangay where I was born and from my observations, nothing substantially changed. The village area has remained virtually the same including the population. I noticed the dilapidated schoolhouse still with one classroom. I talked to the teacher (a cousin of mine) and she told me that the system is still the same. I said “what? are you serious???” “Yes” she said “after a half century it’s still – one teacher teaching grades 1-4 in one classroom!!! Wow!!! Isn’t it incredible??? My question is how do you classify this setting? Do you have to consider it as 4 classrooms or just one?
But anyway, as my way of looking back from where i came from, I wanted to donate something valuable to the people. I thought of either fixing the school or just build a new one (materials- mine, labor- the barrio folks) or the concrete quadrangle civic center which they don’t have (they usually call it basketball court) where they gather together or the childrens play. I talked to the Bgy. Captain (another cousin) what is their priority. He told me that the Congressman has already committed to build a new school (maybe from his pork ) and the basketball court in the school plaza would be nice. So, I promised to build the basketball court and in 2003 the 25 m. x 30 m. quadrangle was finished and it cost me around Php 150,000. (Note: I am not a millionaire just lucky enough to have at least 3 square meals a day) In return, I got a Certificate of Appreciation from the Municipal Council and it was a good feeling and I asked for nothing more. It was when I realized that indeed it’s good to give than to receive.
My points are: 1) in the last half century, our educational system has not improved especially in the provinces because the government do not prioritize it; 2) Congressmen can use their pork for school-building; 3) those who can afford should contribute something especially the 10% mega millionaires population. Panahon na para magbigay naman kayo!!! Hindi puro kabig nang kabig na lang. Remeber donation for education is an investment on human resource development and ultimately the benefits will redound back to you because educated workers are more productive workers. Bonus: they school you donated will be named after you. (but in my case I specifically requested not to put my name in the basketball court)

Schumey, I doubt it’s possible to get a 1:800 ratio… UNLESS …you have 4 shifts of 4 hours each, for a class size of 200 each in the same classroom. That means classes start at 6AM for the first shift and ends at 10PM for the 4th shift.

I can’t imagine how you can pack together 200 students in one regular sized room. I can’t also imagine every teacher in Bagong Tanyag attending to 800 students for 16 hours everyday, that’s brutal, isn’t it?

Now your question of how to bring it down to the 1:50 ratio, diivide 800 by 50 = 16. That means that for every classroom now in that school 16 more have to be built PLUS allowance for population growth. The primetime news said that Bagong Tanyag Elem School has only “over 20 classrooms” and most classrooms have cracks and that the rain falls on students inside the rooms. (A classroom-to-pupil ratio of 1:800 and a classroom count of 20 makes 16,000 total student population for a small public school, and thus, to me, is unbelievable for now.)

A minimum of 320 classrooms to a maximum 494 have to be built

How can the government solve the classroom shortages when they are building a classroom at a cost of P400,000.00 each under the leadership of GMA; on the other hand, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce can build a classroom at a cost of only P100,000.00.

Where did the P300,000.00 pesos go? Only GMA knows. she is best in manipulating numbers.

[…] Pero di sang-ayon si dating education undersecretary Juan Miguel Luz. Ika niya sa isang komentaryon inilathala ng Inside PCIJ, “There IS a serious shortage of classrooms nationwide that no amount of “manipulation of numbers” will do away with. And we better face up to this fact rather than try to wish that shortage away through economics or mathematics or whatever form of analysis there is in the highest office in the land.” […]

Anong walang shortage? Ito personal experience ko sa Sampaguita Elem School (Bagumbong, Kalookan City) TATLONG SHIFT PA NGA !!. Morning Shift 6 to 10, miday shift 10 to 2 and late afternoon shift 2 to 6 pm.

Time and again GMA’s statistical standard are suspect and arbitrary.

The President’s play with numbers on the shortage of classrooms could just be a continuing manifestation of how she might have manipulated her victory in 2004. It’s a matter of attitude. Plainly, it is possible that this president has shown consistency of actions. This is of course a show of true colors.

Indeed, there are “Two Philippines” in this administration. One is her “fantasy” or “enchanted kingdom” and the other, a helpless or tolerant society that continues to suffer the spell of the make-believe curse.

I feel that she lost credibility. Gloriaspeak has become synonymous to fudging — always doubted and ridiculed.

I challenge the President to enrol her grandchildren or relatives in those classrooms where the ratio is 100: 1. Why don’t she try enrolling the children in the family on half-day classes only?

An Engineer joke;

Q. How many electrical engineers does it take to change a light bulb?
A. None. They simply redefine darkness as the industry standard.

It is a possibilty that gloria might have had some engineering background. She’s redefining face value as we know it.

I still remember Erap’s excuse was that the outstanding problems then were all inherited from Ramos. But Arroyo’s outright denial now is as if she’s treating everybody as she would Erap.

[…] Pascual points out that the only economic target the Arroyo government met last year was with respect to overseas deployment. Including overseas work as employed work, she said is “to fool us into thinking that she is accomplishing her goals, in the same manner that a ratio of 100 students per classroom solved the shortage in classrooms.” […]

[…] Hidalgo incurred the ire of the President during a cabinet meeting when the DepEd chief reported that there was still a shortage of 6,832 classrooms in the country. Hidalgo later apologized to Arroyo, saying she got her figures wrong. […]

[…] Under the two-shift policy, implemented in 2004 and reinforced in 2008, morning shift students have to attend school as early as 6a.m. With 6 hours each, the afternoon students then start at 12n.n. and end at 6p.m. Because of the extreme shortage in classrooms and teachers, some schools implement a three-shift scheduling stating 6a.m. to 9p.m. That would give each class 5 hours each: 6a.m. to 11a.m., 12a.m. to 4p.m. and 4p.m. to 9p.m. Or something like that. A couple of years ago, there was even a school that had a four-shift schedule! […]