Mandaluyong allots P10M for opening of classes

The local government of Mandaluyong City has allotted P10 million to address the needs of 44,000 elementary and high school students when they go back to school on Monday.

Mayor Neptali Gonzales II said the money would be used to repair classrooms and school buildings and the procurement of at least 200,000 notebooks for all elementary pupils and 14,850 diaries for secondary students.

In a meeting yesterday, Gonzales said the city government is exhausting all effort to ensure the smooth start of the new schoolyear.

"It is the priority of my administration to improve the quality of education in the city by fulfilling the needs of public school students like books and classrooms. It is the duty of the local government to meet these needs because I believe that convenience is a positive motivating factor for students to learn more," Gonzales said.

To unburden parents from buying school supplies, Gonzales distributed three notebooks each to Grade 1 and 2 pupils, four to Grade 3 pupils and nine to incoming Grade 4 to 6 students.

For her part, City School Superintendent Florencia Domingo lauded the support of the city government to address shortages in terms of classrooms and books.

Domingo also reiterated the call of the Department of Education to school officials against collecting fees.

"The city is very strict in implementing the no-free collection policy and I warned the principals that none of them must collect any fee from the students and should they violate the order they will face appropriate charges," she said.

The local school board recorded at least 29,000 pupils enrolled in the 16 elementary schools and 15,000 students in five high schools in the city.

Meanwhile, 378 new scholars under the Petron Foundation through its Tulong Aral Program in Mandaluyong also received school supplies such as bags, shoes and five sets of uniforms. – Non Alquitran