The Quezon City government will be adding seven new school buildings consisting of 110 additional classrooms this school year, including the construction of more buildings for the senior high school program (SHS) as part of its continuing effort to improve the student-to-classroom ratio as well as to address congestion in the public schools in the city.
Determined to provide adequate classrooms for the biggest school population in the country, Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista strategized to overcome the biggest hurdle, which is lack of properties on which to build the additional buildings. He constituted a City Task Force on Land Acquisition and directed the city Task Force on properties forfeited in favor of the city government to look for available properties at sites appropriate for schools. He has also targeted idle national government properties in the city, to see if these can be possible school sites.
Engr. Segundo Escaro, chief for infrastructure services of the Division of City Schools, said the city government is working to have the new school buildings completed in anticipation of the increase in student population and influx of students for the K+12 program.
According to the Local School Board, around 50,140 Grade 9 students will enroll in Grade 11 in 2016, and 36,732 of them will come from QC public schools.
Engr. Escaro added that construction in the seven schools are on-going and are scheduled to be completed by October this year. They include the following:
- San Diego Elementary School – 4-storey school building with 30 classrooms and two laboratories (including land development and installation of rainwater catchment system, green roof and LED lights)
- West Fairview High School – 4-storey school building with 21 classrooms and laboratories
- E. Rondon High School – 4-storey school building with 12 classrooms and a multi-purpose hall
- San Francisco High School – 4-storey school building with 12 classrooms and six laboratories (including installation of electrical system, rainwater catchment system, green roof and LED lights)
- Justice Cecilia Muñoz Palma High School – 4-storey school building with 11 classrooms and six laboratories
- Fairview Elementary School – 4-storey school building with seven classrooms and canteen
- President Corazon Aquino Elementary School – 4-storey school building with 17 classrooms and laboratories equipped with rainwater harvesting facilities, green roof and LED lights
Completed late last year and in time for this school year are:
- Payatas C Elementary School – 4-storey school building with 21 classrooms
- Payatas B Elementary School – 4-storey school building with 15 classrooms and computer and science laboratories
The city government also funded the improvement and renovation of some city public schools.
- Maligaya Elementary School – construction of perimeter fence and upgrading of its electrical system
- Pinyahan Elementary School – construction of roofing and rehabilitation
- Payatas C Elementary School – land development, retaining wall, rainwater harvesting system, green roof and LED lights
- Holy Spirit Elementary School – upgrading of electrical service entrance
- President Corazon Aquino Elementary School – construction of waiting shed
For this school year, the QC government has allocated PhP 1.26 billion, in which 39 percent or PhP 478 million of it has been aside for the senior high school program, with PhP 330 million allocated for school construction and PhP 40 million for land acquisition.
The city government has also allocated money for the procurement of IT equipment and software as well as scientific and technical equipment for the various tracks of the senior high school program.
The City Task Force on Land Acquisition has identified six proposed sites for senior high schools in the city. The properties are located in Barangays Kaligayahan, Nagkaisang Nayon, Gulod, Pasong Tamo and Tandang Sora.
Susan Baetiong, head of the City School Board Secretariat, said that at least PhP 118 million be spent to acquire the properties.
A report by the Division of City Schools showed that Quezon City needs 811 additional classrooms to accommodate the 36,732 expected enrollees for Grade 11 next year. However, only 45,660 or 62 percent of the 73,592 total senior high school enrollees will be accommodated by the city schools while 29 percent may be absorbed by non-DepEd schools. The remaining 9 percent or 6,895 will be accommodated by partner schools like the city government-owned QC Polytechnic University, which has absorptive capacity of 2,800 senior high school students. The rest will be absorbed by other partner schools such as ASAS, Our Lady of Fatima University, Samson College of Science and Technology, ABE International Business College, AMA, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, World City Colleges, Best Link and Lanting Colleges.
Currently, there are 96 public elementary and 46 high schools in the city, with about 180 buildings, the highest number in the National Capital Region. For school year, 2014 – 2015, there were about 28,863 pre-school enrollees while 260,017 enrolled in elementary public schools and 148,616 high school students. The average increase in enrolment each year is 1.5 percent.
Posted By: Edrillan Pasion
