CEBU CITY, Philippines – While Cebu City Hall said it had done everything possible to prepare for the opening of classes on Tuesday, officials of some schools had to look for ways to accommodate the large number of enrollees in their limited, dilapidated classrooms.In a phone interview, Cebu City education consultant Joy Young said the city government had done its homework and it didn't even have to ask local school officials on the status of their preparations for the school opening. He said they already know since school repairs are being done all year round. “We have done our homework and now we are ready for the school opening,” Young said. However, Cebu City Councilor Gerardo Carillo said the city needed more than 300 classrooms to accommodate the increasing number of enrollees every year.
He cited the case of Pardo Elementary School which he said holds 47 classes for 3,823 pupils enrolled this year. Carillo said most of the rooms need general repair. Although construction of a new school building with 16 rooms is ongoing, it is still insufficient. The school principal, Teresa Aliviado, said they need an additional 20 classrooms. She said some parents know the school doesn't have enough chairs and so some students carry plastic chairs with them to class. Classes are divided into morning and afternoon sessions to accommodate the students. Pardo Elementary School also lacks teachers especially for Grade One pupils. As if that's not serious enough, most of their buildings are termite-infested. Pardo Elementary School is just one of 66 elementary schools in the city beset with shortages in classrooms, facilities and teachers. The city's Special Education Fund (SEF) for this year is about P134 million. Of that amount, P9 million is allocated for the construction of new school buildings while P23 million is set aside for maintenance. Meanwhile, Carillo said they are assessing the number of busted lights so they can replace them to ensure the safety of students, especially those attending night classes. For its part, the Parents Teachers Community Association (PTCA) in every school has been tasked to list all vendors outside the school. All listed vendors will meet with city hall officials and city health officers on Saturday for accreditation and orientation on food safety. The city will monitor their outlets to determine whether they comply with the guidelines. Cebu City public schools will continue to accept late enrollees until Friday. Dr. Carolino Mordeno, regional director of the Department of Education in Central Visayas, said a many of the late enrollees are transferees from other provinces and schools. “We should give them a chance to enroll,” Mordeno said. The late enrollees, however, will have to catch up with their studies because teachers were ordered to start classes immediately.
In Mandaue City, the opening of classes was also orderly. Like Cebu City, problems of lack of classrooms and teachers also plagued its public schools. While the city government provided an additional 60 teachers funded under its SEF, City Schools Superintendent Arden Monisit said this is not enough to meet the expected 10 percent rise in the number of students. There are about 780 teachers serving 34,260 students in 25 elementary schools for the year 2006-2007. In high school, a total of 357 teachers cater to 15,577 in 14 high schools in Mandaue City. Last year, the teacher-student ratio for elementary was pegged at 1 is to 44, and that for high school was at 1 is to 56. This ratio will increase with the 10 percent increase in students this year, said Monisit.
As of 5 p.m. on Tuesday, enrollees in elementary already reached 32,911, while it stood at 13,036 in high schools. These are lower figures compared to last year although enrollment will still be on-going until June 30. /With reports from Reporter Dale G. Israel and Correspondent Chris A. Ligan | 
