Special feature: 'Emergency classes do not bring quality'

CEBU, Philippines - Most graders wake up at 6 a.m. during weekdays to prepare for school.

But 9-year-old Christie Jane Bacalso needs to be up at 3 a.m. to be in school early for her 5:40 a.m. class at the Guadalupe Elementary School.

“I’m already used to waking up early at 3 a.m. everyday. I don’t want to be late. I see to it that I will always be the first to arrive in the classroom,” Christie said in Cebuano.

Christie is among the 920 grade three pupils taking emergency classes, the school’s way to accommodate all students despite the shortage of classrooms and teachers.

Guadalupe Elementary School is one of the biggest schools in Cebu City in terms of the population.

The school decided to hold emergency classes for grades three, four and five classes because the grade one enrollees drastically increased this year.

Emergency classes are divided into two shifts. The first shift is from 5:40 a.m. to 12 noon while the second shift is from 12 noon to 6:10 p.m.

Dr. Nestor Arandia, the new principal of Guadalupe Elementary School, said from 19 sections last year, there are now 25 grade one sections with 49 students per class this year.

The school's overall population has increased from 5,355 last year to 6,336 this year.

Grade three has a population of 920; 858 for grade four and 930 for grade five. They are divided into two for the day and afternoon sessions and each section holds between 48 to 59 students.

Arandia said they have 129 teachers but they need five more to handle classes for grades one to three.

“Aside from the teachers, we need more classrooms so that we will no longer have the emergency classes and our school children can come to school in a regular class schedule,” Arandia said.

The teachers are also affected by the holding of emergency classes.

 “It's not only the school children who are affected but our teachers as well. We also come to school early. We need to sacrifice to cope with the specific time schedule for these classes in order to achieve quality learning,” he said.

Marshall Tumabang, 41, who has been teaching for five years needs to wake up at 3:30 a.m. so he will not be late for his 5:40 a.m.

Because children come to school very early, he needs to adjust the recess schedule to give them time to eat earlier.

“Luoy man pud kaayo ang mga bata, moanhi sila og skwelahan nga wala pay kaon. Dili na lang ko mosunod sa scheduled time for recess kay gutom ang bata. Dili na gyud ni sila maka-concentrate og paminaw. Maynang masudlan ilang tiyan para makaconcentrate gyud sila sa klase,” Tumabang said. (I pity the children because they come to school without eating breakfast. That's why I will not follow the scheduled time for recess because if the children are hungry, they cannot concentrate in class.)

Maria Rhodora Cuhit, 42, who has been teaching for nine years admitted that they can teach better if they hold whole day classes.

“Now, our challenge as teachers is how to be effective with our limited time so the children can learn from us,” Cuhit said.

Reynante Nudalo, 26, a teacher for three years said most of his early morning students cope with the lessons. But he still believes classroom shortage must be addressed soon.

“Okay ra man ang shifting. But I guess we really need more rooms kay daghan kaayo ang studyante. These children need conducive rooms for learning,” he said.

Cebu City Vice Mayor Joy Augustus Young, chairman of the Committee on Education, said holding half-day classes is not enough for the children to learn.

“Half-day classes is not good for our school children. I believe that there is no quality learning there. So, for this problem not to be prolonged, we need to do something and that is to build more classrooms,” Young said.

He revealed that the city government already allotted P40 million in 2010 for the construction of 20 classrooms in Guadalupe Elementary School.

But the city's engineering office as well as the documentary requirements of the Office of the Building Officials (OBO) caused the delay in the implementation of the project.

“We already have a P40 million budget for the classrooms in Guadalupe Elementary School, the other year pa na. Dugay lang gyud ang atong engineering, daghang requirement ang OBO (Office of the Building Official). Mao gyud ni akong gi-fight until now. It took me almost ten years to almost solve it. Naa gihapon ang problema but at least, dili na kaayo grabe compared sauna. Ato na gyud ning nahinay hinayan ug solve,” Young said. (I've been fighting for this until now... The problem is still there but at least, we are slowly solving it.)

For some parents, holding classes very early in the morning is risky for their children as it is still very dark to walk to school.

Mary Joy Abella, 36, revealed that she and her daughter Mary Grace, almost stepped on a big snake while on their way to school.

 “Dili gyud nako malimtan katong nakalabang gyud mi og bitin. Nagtuo mi nga kahoy ra siya, kay ngitngit man kaayo. Mao to ako giingnan akong anak nga tikang lang. May gani naay motor nagsunod namu, nahayagan sa headlights sa motor unya nituyok ang ulo. Sus, bitin man diay gyud to. Naswertehan lang gyud mi nga wala mi naunsa,” Abella said. “I will never forget that experience. I thought it was just a log. Thank God a motorcycle was behind us and we saw the head of the snake. We were lucky nothing bad happened to us,” she recalled.

She said there are snakes in the school because of several trees in its surroundings.

Arandia said they will clean the school grounds and surroundings to prevent this from happening again. 

 “Nindot nga kung sayo sa buntag ang klase kay alert kaayo ang mga bata kung ikumpara sa hapon. Pero nga karun nga nagkadaghan na ang mga studyante nganhi, ila untang tagaan og pagtagad ang kakuwang sa classroom ug sa mga maestra,” she said. (Holding early morning classes is good as the children are more alert in the morning. But now that the number of students is increasing, the shortage of classroom and teachers needs to be addressed.)

The emergency classes gave enterprising individuals an opportunity to earn more.

Wilfredo Guasen, 60, of Brgy. Kalunasan, brings his grandson to school using his motorcycle.

Then, he also uses it to bring other children to school at P5 per head. On the other hand, Rose, 42, a sidewalk vendor, also wakes up early to sell her goods outside the school.

She has been in the business for eight years now and her four children also go to Guadalupe Elementary School.

“Mosayo pod ko og mata kay para naa pod koy ginagmay nga halin para akong ipabawn sa akong mga anak. Ubay-ubay man pod ang mamalit. Kasagaran biscuit gyud ilang paliton sayo sa buntag. Siguro kay wala gyud ni sila makapamahaw before sila nianhi sa skwelahan,” she said. (I wake up early to earn a little for my children's allowance. Children usually buy biscuits. Maybe because they have not eaten breakfast before going to school.) — /MBG (FREEMAN)