Child welfare group slams DepEd on reducing class hours

MANILA, Philippines - A multi-sectoral group criticized the Department of Education (DepEd) yesterday over its program to reduce class hours in public elementary schools to address the problem of classroom shortage.

The Akap Bata Sectoral Organization said the DepEd “has been putting forward faulty solutions to the continuing lack of classrooms in public basic and secondary schools in the country.”

“Government budget prioritization for education will certainly solve the classroom problems in the country,” Arlene Brosas of the Akap Bata Sectoral Organization said.

The DepEd last month released an order that revises the classroom program by reducing class hours in the elementary level.

Under the revised program, the number of hours for Grades I and II would be reduced to four; Grade III level to four and a half; while Grades IV, V, and VI would be five hours.

The order, however, would only be implemented in schools that are suffering from classroom shortage.

Brosas lamented that the DepEd and the national government have neglected the education sector in the country.

Brosas said the change being offered by DepEd “is a mere patch-up solution and will never be a solution to the classroom shortage issue.”

She said the 2010 proposed budget is clear proof of how the government considers education in its list of priorities.

“They said that only P235.2 billion or 15.3 percent share in the national budget was being allocated for education, compared to the P746.2 billion or 21.75 percent share in the national budget for foreign debt servicing,” she said.

The group called on Congress to slash the proposed allocation for debt servicing and give a bigger allocation to the education sector. – Helen Flores