More than 100 schools in Negros Or "not ready" for June 4 class opening
DUMAGUETE CITY — More than a hundred public elementary and high schools in Negros Oriental are reportedly "not ready" yet for the opening of classes on June 4, an official from the Department of Education (DepEd) said.
These schools are mostly located in the hinterland barangays of the province, DepEd Negros Oriental Schools Division Superintendent Wilfreda Bongalos said on Monday when she personally launched the Brigada Eskwela program in the province.
Close monitoring of these schools are now being carried out and they are expected to be operational after undergoing renovation and maintenance through the Brigada Eskwela, said Bongalos but without mentioning the exact number of "unprepared" schools.
Bongalos launched the Brigada Eskwela for Negros Oriental on Monday at the BolocBoloc Elementary School in Sibulan town that she said was chosen by DepEd as the launching site for being a "performing school," to be an example that school principals all over the province can replicate.
The weeklong program, which will last until today, is a voluntary initiative where students, teachers, parents and other members of the community repair and clean up classrooms and public schools in preparation for the June 14 opening of classes.
This is Bongalos' first Brigada Eskwela in Negros Oriental since she became DepEd's provincial head last April, replacing Salustiano Jimenez, who is now with the agency's Region 7 office.
More than 180,000 students are set to go to the 536 elementary and high schools in Negros Oriental, Bongalos told The FREEMAN, but added that enrollment is expected to increase this school year 2018-2019 compared with school year 2017-2018.
An estimated 120,000 are kindergarten and elementary students, 52,000 of them are set to enter junior high school, and 9,000 to the senior high school level.
In Dumaguete City, all 25 public elementary and high schools are ready for the first day of school on June 4, according to Jaymar Umbac of the DepEd City Schools Governance and Operations Division (SGOD). "Usually gyud, prepared na gyud tanang schools sa Dumaguete."
Meanwhile, two private institutions in Dumaguete City have applied for an increase in tuition fees, although approval of such is still pending now at the DepEd-7 regional office in Cebu City.
These schools are St. Paul University Dumaguete (SPUD) and Foundation University (FU), which submitted their applications lastApril.
SPUD requested for an increase in its miscellaneous fees, including fees for athletics, culture and a subsidy for "conducive learning." FU, is applying for a hike in both tuition and miscellaneous fees.
Umbac however clarified that the expected tuition hike is only applicable to the kindergarten, elementary, and high school levels of these universities. —