Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. has ordered the city engineering office to fasttrack the construction of the new schoolbuildings as early as March this year in time for the opening of classes, assuring parents "that no children of school age in the city shall be deprived of his right to education."
The seven new schoolbuildings are the four-storey, 16-classroom Rosa Susano Elementary School (formerly Novaliches Elementary School), the three-storey, 12-classroom Fairview Elem. School (West Fairview Annex), four-storey, 16-classroom Pasong Tamo Elementary School, the four-storey, 16-classroom Commonwealth High School (Holy Spirit Annex), the four-storey 16-classroom Novaliches High School (Doña Rosario Annex), the three-storey, 12-classroom San Bartolome High School and the North Fairview High School, which will be completed next week.
Engr. Jun Escaro, city school division infrastructure coordinator, said while the formal turnover and inauguration of these schoolbuildings will be conducted from August to October this year, they are now ready for occupancy to ease up the city’s classroom shortage.
Escaro said the city government has also programmed the construction of another schoolbuilding in Batasan Hills to help augment the Batasan National High School’s acute classroom shortage.
The construction, however, has been hampered temporarily by opposition from eight squatter families, Escaro said.
Division of City Schools Superintendent Dr. Victoria Fuentes said shortage problem in schools like Lagro High School will be remedied with the opening of the four-storey, 16-classroom SB schoolbuilding in North Fairview and another schoolbuilding for the Batasan National High School students, being undertaken under the Social Expenditure Management Program (SEMP).
Meanwhile, in the elementary school level, classes are being held in three shifts in at least 11 schools in District II, which include the Commonwealth Elementary School, the biggest in the city, with 12,000 enrollees.
The city government, under the Belmonte administration has prioritized education and plans to construct some 520 new classrooms starting this year until June 2004.