REGULATING CLASS SIZE IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

The author is Teacher

SHERYL R. REYES

The Department of Education has been dealing with the worsening shortage of teachers and classrooms for years. This has been brought about by the government’s policy of prioritizing debt payments, thus the reduction in public spending on education.

The DepEd has to cope with these shortages by allowing extremely large class sizes. In the urban centers, it is no longer uncommon to see teachers handling classes with 60 to 80 students.

According to data from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Institute for Statistics, classrooms in the Philippines are among the most crowded in Asia. The country’s public elementary schools’average class size of 43.9 is far bigger than Malaysia’s 31.7, Thailand’s 22.9, Japan’s 23.6, and India’s 40. In public high schools, the country registered an average size of 56.1, higher than Malaysia’s 34, Thailand’s 41.5, Japan’s 33.9, and India’s 39.

The proliferation of grossly oversized classes is one of the main causes of the marked decline in the quality of education provided by our public schools.

On the other hand, smaller classes allow teachers to spend more time on actual instruction and less on classroom management, and enable greater individual interactions between student and teacher.

Recently, a technical working group (TWG) of the House committee on basic education and culture has started fine tuning House Bill 473, which seeks to regulate the class size in all public schools in the country.

The proposed measure, also known as the “Public School Class Size Law of 2016” also seeks to prescribe additional compensation for teachers handling large size classes.

In a meeting presided by TWG head Rep. Mark Go, the bill’s author, Rep. Antonio Tinio explained that oversized classes in public school classrooms is against the constitutional guaranteed right of Filipino school children to quality education.

To remedy the situation, the bill limits the size of each class to 35 students, to be handled by a single teacher. Any class with not more than 35 students shall be considered a standard class. Any class with more than 35 students up to a maximum of 50 students shall be considered a large class. In no case shall a class size in excess of 50 students be permitted.

A teacher handling a large class shall be entitled to a large class honorarium equivalent to one percent of her daily rate for every student in excess of the standard class size of 35.

The provision was in recognition of the right of the public school teachers to be protected from unregulated increases in class size as well as to compensation commensurate to their actual workload.

The measure mandates the Department of Education (DepEd) to promulgate the rules and regulations necessary for the initial implementation of the Act.

An amount of P5 million shall be appropriated for the initial implementation of the Act. Thereafter, such amount as may be necessary for the continued implementation of the Act shall be included in the appropriations of DEpEd in the annual General Appropriations Act (GAA).

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III at Gutad National High School

Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Leonor MagtolisBriones led the launch of the Financial Literacy Program for Schools, a partnership project ofBangkoSentralngPilipinas(BSP), DepEd, and BDO Foundation (BDOF), on May 28, 2018 at the BDO Corporate Center in Ortigas, Mandaluyong City.

During her keynote address, Briones reiterated the importance of financial literacy in finding solutions to life’s challenges. “This is what financial literacy is all about. It’s finding solutions to challenges that we face. It’s finding solutions to reaching the goals that you want to reach, what you want to be, and what you want to do with the rest of your lives.”

Having already incorporated Financial Literacy in the K to 12 Basic Education Program, and in the in-service training (INSET) program for teachers and non-teaching personnel, the Department partnered with BSP and BDOF to further advance the development of financial education initiatives.

The Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was signed by Briones, together with BSP Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr., and BDOF President Mario Deriquito.

Also present in the launch and MOA signing were DepEd Undersecretary for Finance– Disbursements and Accounting Victoria Catibog, and Undersecretary for Legislative Affairs, External Partnerships, and School Sports TonisitoUmali.

Learner-friendly materials

The partnership includes the distribution of learning materials, primarily videos, which shall be used for the training of teachers and non-teaching personnel, and for classroom instruction accompanied by teachers’ guides.

The learner-friendly videos, which shall be made available through various formats – DVD, USB sticks, Learning Resource Materials Development System (LRMDS), links, etc., based on the needs and capabilities of the schools – were also previewed during the launch. The materials focus on simple ways to save and manage one’s expenses.

“We really appreciate our partners, BDO and BangkoSentralngPilipinas, for taking the initiative in helping us out in fulfilling the requirements of law,” Briones mentioned, referring to Republic Act No. 10922, otherwise known as the “Economic and Financial Literacy Act,” which mandates DepEd to “ensure that economic and financial education becomes an integral part of formal learning.”

“Therefore, this is really a wonderful development for all of us not only in the public school system, but in the education system as well,” the Education chief added.

Personal capacitation, improvement

The Secretary further emphasized how this initiative goes beyond the provisions of the law.

It s not only a response to requirements of law, but to our own professional capacitation, to our own personal improvement. It’s always a good thing to learn to be aware, to know what the greatest developments in our particular field are, because it makes us great teachers. But at the same time, it’s also a good thing to learn something which will help us manage our personal affairs,” she explained.

The collaborating agencies believe that institutionalizing financial literacy in the curriculum is a crucial step towards a “financially-learned citizenry” who shall better contribute to nation-building in the future.

“So we hope that we in the DepEd, especially the teachers, especially the learners, will accept and receive this gift in the spirit of love that it is given to us, in the spirit of caring for our future, not only for our personal future, but the future of the learners whom we are sworn to serve and to mentor,” Briones concluded.

The learning tools are set to be used by approximately 700,000 teachers and nonteaching personnel, for the benefit of the millions of students from public schools nationwide. Source: http://deped.gov.ph/press-releases/deped-ties-bsp-bdo-strengthen-financiall i t er acy-sch ool s

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The author is from Pandaras Integrated School, City of San Fernando