Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Leonor Briones answered the problems DepEd reviewed with regards to schools.

 

In an interview with GMA News TV ‘Batanghali’, Sec. Leonor Briones went through all the changes DepEd made concerning the problems with class size, natural disasters, budget, access, and quality of education.

 

“Nung ako’y estudyante pa, at nung bata kayo’y (Connie Sison), estudyante pa, hindi nabubura sa memory ninyo ang dramatic na pagkukulang ng Department of Education,” Sec. Briones said.

 

She said that for the past three years, traditional problems become non-traditional.

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Problem with Class Size

 

She said that there are a lot of changes in schools. One is the class size, from 70-100 students sharing a class in the past, DepEd standardized the number of students in a class to 40 students.

 

“The reason we need more classrooms is to reduce ang size ng klase,” she explained.

 

Sec. Briones explained that with the increase of requirements and students going to school, they need more facilities to tend to over 1,000,000 students.

 

Problem with Disasters

 

In times of natural disaster, schools will not be used as evacuation centers anymore.

 

Sec. Briones requested the government to build a multifunctional evacuation center to stop them from using schools for evacuation in times of natural disasters.

 

For the repairs, ‘Brigada Eskuwela’ is done twice to do minor repairs in school and for the major repairs, DepEd steps in.

 

Sec. Briones also admits that with the ‘Build, build, build’ project, there is a delay in budget, resulting a delay in repairs for furniture, classrooms, and buildings.

 

She made mention of school paces. The start of Marawi is the same time school is stopped or delayed.

 

“Gusto natin ang mga bata may feel sila na buong bansa, sabay-sabay sila lahat,” DepEd Secretary expressed.