EDITORIAL - Cutting classes

As the population continues to grow with no corresponding increase in resources for basic services, the Department of Education has reduced class hours to ease congestion in public schools. The DepEd’s move is on top of previous efforts to accommodate the booming student population, including the adoption of three shifts per day.

Those three shifts already meant shorter class hours. Last month the DepEd ordered class hours further shortened to just four hours for Grades 1 and 2, four hours and 30 minutes for Grade 3 and five hours for Grades 4 to 6. Compare those learning hours with those in exclusive private schools, where students start whole-day classes by fourth grade.

DepEd officials managed to further cut class hours by collapsing certain subjects into others. Social Studies and Culture, for example, were integrated into Filipino from Grades 1 to 3. Music, Arts and Physical Education, already taught in combination, were integrated into Geography, History and Social Studies from Grades 4 to 6. 

Education officials explained that reducing class hours was in response to “the alarming size or population of learners in a class or crowded classrooms,” concerns for the safety of young pupils and “public clamor for lesser learning loads.” Critics countered that as things stand, elementary students in public schools are already learning a lot less than their counterparts in many private schools. Critics also pointed out that further integration of school subjects could confuse students.

What the critics cannot dispute is the “alarming size” of the student population, which grows steadily each school opening. Without a corresponding increase in the annual funding for education — already the second largest in the national budget after the allocation for debt service – school congestion is certain to get worse.

While the DepEd may simply be trying to cope with a bad situation, the government must do more to deal with the problem. Other countries are pouring resources into improving basic education, which builds a solid foundation for learning the skills needed for national development. The poor quality of education is showing in tests and international competitions. It is manifested in the lack of qualified workers to meet the needs of investors and the requirements of national development, and in the continuing slide in the country’s competitiveness. Reforms must start in the earliest stages of life. Shortening the time for learning is not a good start.