ILOILO – The provincial government vowed to address the shortage in classrooms and teachers here.
Iloilo needs 1,652 classrooms: 302 in the 1st District, 297 in the 2nd District, 385 in the 3rd District, 219 in the 4th District, and 449 in the 5th District, according to Dr. Ernesto F. Servillon Jr., Schools Division of Iloilo superintendent.
This year, the provincial government allocated P250 million for its Special Education Fund for typhoon-resilient and persons with disability-friendly classrooms / school buildings, and for the hiring of teachers.
“Education is not the core mandate and function of the LGU (local government unit) because that’s not one of the devolved functions. But I’m not saying nga indi ta na ya responsibilidad; we take full responsibility for our education here in the province,” said Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr.
He added: “We know that the budget for our schools comes from the national government for classrooms, teachers, etc., but through our effective component, we are fully committed to supporting the infrastructure, facilities, and operations of public schools.”
The provincial government is likewise committed to helping address the shortage in public school teachers.
A few months ago, the provincial government hired 300 teachers to augment the teaching personnel of the Schools Division of Iloilo.
Servillon earlier said he is targeting to achieve the ratio of one teacher per 20 pupils, or one teacher per 25 pupils.
However, with the shortage of teachers and the increasing number of learners every year, the DepEd is instead targeting the ration of one teacher per 45 pupils.
Currently, there are 1,648 schools in the province, both public and private, with 19,991 personnel, of whom 17,439 are teaching personnel and 2,552 are non-teaching personnel, according to the Schools Division of Iloilo./PN