Lack of classrooms being addressed: DepEd

At least 32 school buildings are expected to be completed within the school year to address classroom shortage in Cebu City, an official of the Department of Education (DepEd) 7 said.

Dr. Bianito Dagatan, Cebu City School Division superintendent, told SunStar Cebu that the buildings are currently under construction and are funded by the National Government.

Each building will have four stories with five classrooms in every floor level. The edifices are in addition to at least 40 new school buildings that were recently finished.

He said the division secured clearances to use these facilities for yesterday's opening of classes even if these are still scheduled to be turned over by the Department of Public Works and Highways to the DepEd Cebu City.

“The main reason the city never really suffers from classroom shortage is because we have plenty of night high schools. That way, we can maximize the usage of the rooms in the morning and evening, espe- cially with the growing number of enrollees every year,” Dagatan said.

The division is set to welcome at least 170,000 pupils from kindergarten to Grade 12 and the number is expected to increase in the coming days as the enrollment period has been extended to June 16.

Dagatan asked parents, the barangay and police to work closely with schools to ensure the safety of the students following recent events in the national scene.

In a separate interview, Dr. Lyra Illaga, City Central Elementary School principal, said the opening of classes was generally peaceful and that they have tightened security.

“We have more than 4,000 students and that's really a challenge. But we're happy that the parents have been really cooperative, even attending our seminars during the Brigada Eskwela,” she said.

Illaga said that they also received an endorsement letter asking that a Grade 2 transferee from Marawi City be accepted for the school year.

In Talisay City, 24,740 students enrolled in kindergarten to grade 6; 10,999 enrolled in junior high school; and 1,540 in senior high school.

The Talisay City Schools Division expect more enrollees within the week.

Dr. Leah Noveras, division superintendent, told SunStar Cebu that the city's 43 public schools continue to lack classrooms.

However, 15 school buildings that are being built are close to completion, she said.

Noveras said she also told principals to put up makeshift classrooms.

She said that some classrooms were repaired during the Brigada Eskwela last month. /