EDITORIAL - Wall clutter

There may be merit in the argument that clutter on classroom walls can be distracting to learners. Many people surely appreciate the disappearance of the images of public officials and politicians from classroom walls.

Some educators, on the other hand, say visual aids can enhance learning especially among the very young. They add that wall decorations also make learning fun especially in dreary, underfunded classrooms.

Vice President and concurrent Department of Education Secretary Sara Duterte has stood firm on her order to keep classroom walls bare, ostensibly to allow students to focus on their lessons. DepEd’s current focus on classroom aesthetics amid preparations for the school opening on Aug. 29 has inevitably highlighted the problems more serious than wall clutter that are affecting the quality of education in public schools.

The most basic is the inadequacy of classrooms and school buildings. The problem has worsened as most of the students who transferred from private schools to the free public school system due to economic hardships during the COVID lockdowns have not returned to the private schools. The Alliance of Concerned Teachers earlier said there were educators handling from seven to eight teaching loads, with 30 to 50 students in each class.

State resources, stretched thin for the health and economic responses to the pandemic, did not go to the expansion of public school facilities to match the growth in the student population. This has meant larger class sizes in many schools – rarely ideal for optimum learning – which will greet students when the new academic year starts next week.

There is also the lack of basic facilities such as electric fans, which can aggravate the discomfort in a crowded classroom. A teacher noted that many public school classrooms in this country “are cramped, dark, badly ventilated.” This problem was highlighted during the dry months this year, when many students suffered heat-related afflictions due to poorly ventilated classrooms. Students trying to cope with intolerable heat cannot concentrate on their lessons. The problem prompted calls to speed up the return to the former school calendar, so that students and teachers alike can enjoy their school break during what is considered the summer months in the country.

The DepEd must tackle the other problems related to the physical environment in classrooms, with the same zeal that has been shown in going after wall clutter.