Iloilo’s twin school problems: classroom shortage, learners’ poor reading skills

I LOILO – Before his second term concludes in 2025, Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. hopes to find solutions to two major problems in the province’s education sector – classroom shortage and learners’ reading comprehension deficiency.

Calling these concerns “a matter of national emergency”, Defensor said the provincial government is“fully committed to utilizing our resources.”

The province needs an additional 400 classrooms, according to the governor.

“To the best of our ability and with utmost seriousness, we will tackle classroom shortage. It is a matter of national emergency for us here,” said Defensor.

Regarding learners’ poor reading comprehension, Defensor aims to address this with the help of local government units ( LGUs), the Department of Education (DepEd), the nongovernmental organization ( NGO) Synergia, and other stakeholders.

Some 141,080 learners — 73 percent of 191,495 learners from Grades 4 to 11 in the school year 20222023 — are performing below average, based on data from the Schools Division OfficeIloilo, which in turn got it from the reading proficiency test conducted by the Philippine Informal Reading Inventory (Phil-IRI).

The Phil-IRI, an initiative by the Bureau of Learning Delivery of DepEd, is designed to assess students’ oral reading, silent reading, and listening comprehension in both English and Filipino.

“What is our target? To overcome the classroom shortage issue this year, as long as we comply with regulations and our resources allow,” said Defensor.

The provincial government, through the Bes Probins Program, is currently implementing an education program.

Bes Probins aims for an effective, relevant, and transformative educational system in the province. It includes crafting a career guidance and counselling module in partnership with DepEd and other stakeholders to align with the National Development Plan and Regional Development Plan, guiding secondary school students in their career decisions.

Additionally, Bes Probins, which also supports the infrastructure needs of DepEd through the construction of classroom buildings, teen centers, and covered gyms, is a local implementation of Republic Act No. 11206 or the Career Guidance and Counselling Act, authored by Defensor when he was a congressman.

The province has also collaborated with the University of the Philippines Visayas to develop a voter’s education module aimed at empowering youth in democratic processes.

Defensor emphasized treating education as a core function and responsibility by the provincial government and LGUs, given the significant issue of learners’ reading proficiency.

Even before t he Bes Probins Program, LGUs were implementing a catch-up plan to address reading proficiency.

“We aim to collaborate and align our efforts to have a unified direction. We should succeed together with the DepEd and our municipalities in addressing the reading proficiency problem, which is a national emergency,” said Defensor.

He also mentioned the upcoming launch of a career guidance and counselling program and a module for the voter’s education program, which are nearly complete, developed by DepEd and the University of the Philippines./