MANILA, Philippines – If worse comes to worst, at least 3 public elementary schools and one high school in Caloocan City may resort to a 3-day school week to relieve their congestion issues.

Department of Education-NCR Director Luz Almeda revealed this on the sidelines of a press conference Tuesday, May 27, as the education department prepares for the first day of classes on June 2.

But the 3-day, whole day school week will only be a last resort for the Caloocan school division, Almeda said.

The priority of congested schools is to optimize as much available space as they can and accommodate walk-in enrollees in a holding area.

“[It’s an] alternative schedule to daily classes…in the event there will be a sizeable number of enrollees coming to our schools. We have made the consultations and the superintendents also got quite a number of parents opposing the idea. They still prefer the double shift,” she added.

The Caloocan schools that may implement the proposal are:

1. Bagong Silang Elementary School
2. Caloocan North Elementary School
3. Libis Baesa Elementary School
4. Sampaguita High School

The above schools are among the 20 remaining congested schools in Metro Manila:

1. Sampaloc Site II Elementary School (Parañaque City)
2. Payatas B Elementary School (Quezon City)
3. Bagong Tanyag (Annex A) (Taguig City)
4. Bagong Tanyag (Annex B) (Taguig City)
5. President Corazon C. Aquino Elementary School (Quezon City)
6. San Diego Elementary School (Quezon City)
7. Don Galo Elementary School (Parañaque City)
8. Sto Niño National High School (Marikina City)
9. Tinajeros National High School (Acacia Annex) (Malabon City)
10. Portrero National High School (Malabon City
11. Holy Spirit National High School (Quezon City)
12. Catmon Integrated School (Malabon City)
13. San Bartolome High School (Quezon City)
14. Captain Albert Aguilar National High School (Las Piñas City)
15. Kalayaan National High School (Las Piñas City)
16. North Fairview High School (Quezon City)

‘No space’ for new schools

Overcrowding in schools is a phenomenon common in heavily-populated areas such as Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, and Metro Davao. Instead of 35-45 students per classroom, these schools accommodate as many as 60-70 students.

In Metro Manila alone, there are about 865 public schools, with a projected 2,172,526 enrollees for school year 2014-2015. Almeda said about 1,200 of these are transferees from other regions, including areas hit by Super Typhoon Yolanda.

Almeda admitted a shortage of classrooms in NCR. (READ: Aquino: No more classroom backlog)

“Yes, we may have the funds to build the schools, but we don’t have the space,” she said, noting that some schools in the metro are now as high as 5-story buildings. (READ: High-rise schools to solve NCR classroom shortage)

“This is the scenario [in Metro Manila]: there are more private schools but there are fewer enrollees. In public schools, less schools, more enrollees.”

Double shifting will be implemented in 86% of public schools in Metro Manila, and the rest, or almost 14%, will have single-shift classes. 

Only the Grade 4 level of Tangos Elementary School in Navotas will have triple shifting due to ongoing construction of classrooms.

Required contact days

If it pushes through, the 3-day school week will be either on Mondays-Wednesdays-Fridays or on Tuesdays-Thursdays-Saturdays. Almeda said teachers with Saturday classes can have their Mondays off.

The proposal will entail longer subject hours. For example, 40-minute subjects may be extended to 80 minutes.

“[The 3-day school week] may not meet the actual number of days, but the total number of hours [will] still meet 180 days,” she added.

The proposal will be at the discretion of Caloocan’s schools division superintendent, and only when an “extreme situation” arises.

It is also not related to the earlier proposed 4-day school week which DepEd already shelved. (READ: Four-day school week ‘wrong response to problem’)

DepEd Assistant Secretary Jesus Mateo on Tuesday, May 27, reiterated there must be no compromise on the required 180-contact days in schools.

The school calendar of DepEd consists of 200 school days, including 20 buffer days for class disruptions. A minimum of 180 days contact time (or 45 contact days a quarter) is required in both elementary and high school. – Rappler.com