Gov’t urged: Form panel to oversee private schools

MANILA, Philippines - The Federation of Associations of Private Schools and Administrators (Fapsa) is pushing for the creation of a bureau that would oversee and address the problems of all private learning institutions in the country.

“The DepEd (Department of Education) is focused heavily on public schools and we understand that, but since their hands are full, only limited time is given to private schools,” Fapsa president Eleazardo Kasilag said in a statement.

“It is high time that the Bureau of Private Schools should be created,” he added. 

Kasilag noted that in the early 1950s, there was a Bureau of Private Education “but for no apparent reason it was deserted.”

Presently, the DepEd only assigns one supervisor to oversee all the private schools in a division, according Kasilag.

“In the National Capital Region for instance, there are 16 school divisions with only 16 supervisors for close to 2,000 private schools in Metro Manila,” he said.

“While for the public schools, there are a minimum of eight school division supervisors apart from district supervisors – depending on how many districts the city is divided into – plus coordinators and all the staffers in one big division office,” he said.

Kasilag said only one supervisor representing private schools is tasked to attend to other assignments like scouting, nutrition and one academic subject, among others.

“DepEd hardly knows the problem of private schools,” he said.

Kasilag earlier said the Bureau of Private Education could also help their members avail of the Special Education Fund of each local government unit.