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Official Publication of the Philippine Information Agency Bicol Regional Office, in cooperation with the RIAC-REDIRAS - RDC Bicol



Thursday, June 13, 2013

DPWH-Bicol completes construction of 73 news school buildings worth P48M

By Joseph John J. Perez

LEGAZPI CITY, June 13 (PIA) -- The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in Bicol region has completed construction of 73 new school buildings worth P48.2 million, in time for the opening of classes this week. In all, 98 new classrooms were built by the agency in the region.

DPWH Regional Director Danilo Dequito said that the amount spent for the building construction was sourced from regular school buildings program (RSBP) of the Department of Education (DepEd) for calendar year 2012.

Camarines Sur got the biggest funding with P16 million for the construction of 30 school buildings spread over its five congressional districts including the cities of Naga and Iriga, Dequito said.

Albay got a share of P9.2 million for the construction of 16 classrooms for the cities of Ligao and Tabaco and the towns of Bacacay, Camalig, Guinobatan, Libon, Malilipot, Oas, Pio Duran, Rapu-Rapu and Tiwi, he added.

Meanwhile, Masbate got P9 million for 25 new classrooms completed as early as January this year in its three congressional districts. The province of Sorsogon got P7.2 million for the construction of 13 classrooms, Dequito said.

Another P4.6 million was spent for the construction of eight classrooms in five schools in Camarines Norte while Catanduanes got P1.8 million for four classrooms, Dequito said.

According to DepEd program supervisor Casiano Pendegones, Jr., around P629.2 million will be appropriated for Bicol under the Department of Budget and Management’s (DBM) Basic Education Facilities Fund for 2013.

From this amount, 865 classrooms are expected to be constructed within the present year with Camarines Sur again gaining the most with 267, followed by Masbate with 212, Sorsogon with 163, Camarines Norte with 75, Albay with 69 and Catanduanes with 33. Among the cities, Sorsogon got the highest share with 13, Naga with 12, Masbate with 11 and Iriga with 10.

According to DepEd Bicol Administrative Office Chief Jose Bonto, a total of 9,996 additional classrooms are needed for the present school year 2013-2014 to accommodate a total of 1,613,373 kindergarten, elementary and secondary students all over the Bicol Region. The shortage is primarily due to the need to construct 6,403 classrooms for kindergarten in compliance with the K to 12 program of the government. Elementary schools need 1,692 classrooms while high schools need 1,900 additional rooms.

Meanwhile, Camarines Sur tops the list with most students expected to return to school at 452,324 followed by Masbate with 255,346 and coming third is Albay with 235,083 students. Sorsogon comes next with 185,246 enrolees while Camarines Norte expects 155,173 student. Catanduanes expects only 75,915 students making it as the province with the lowest number of students for the school opening, according to DepEd Bicol.

Naga City is topping the Bicol cities with most number of returning students at 45,321 followed by Sorsogon with 43,645. Legaspi comes in third with 41,497. Tabaco City expects 37,890 students, Ligao City has 30,602, Masbate City has 29,110 students and placing last is Iriga with only 26,222 students, DepEd Bicol said.

Regionwide, the elementary pupils comprise most of the school population at 1,042,990, followed by secondary students at 409,299 then the kindergarten at 161,084.

According to DepEd Bicol, they need additional 8,079 teachers to cope with almost 100,000 additional students this year compared to 1,517,454 total students last school year.

As expected, more kindergarten teachers are needed with 5,221 followed by elementary teachers with 1,765 and lastly by high school teachers with 1,092 shortage.

The province of Camarines Sur needs most with 2,112 teachers, followed by Masbate with 1,404 and Albay with 1,276 as top three provinces on teacher shortages.

The increase in enrollment also resulted in shortage in seats or furniture totaling 554,919 regionwide. Again, the kindergarten needs the most seats at 157,654, followed by the elementary pupils at 318,332 and secondary students at 78,933. Camarines Sur again tops list among the provinces with 180,867 chairs needed, followed by Albay with 90,382 and Masbate with 72,762 needed chairs, DepEd Bicol said.

Meanwhile, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and DepEd granted 58 schools in the Bicol Region to implement tuition fee increase for school year 2013-2014. CHED granted 22 tertiary schools while Deped allowed 36 secondary schools for their proposed tuition fee hike ranging from five to 100 percent for the tertiary and for to 28 percent for secondary schools.

In Albay, the 9 tertiary schools permitted to increase their tuition fee are Ago Medical Educational Center, Aquinas University, Bicol College, Bicol Christian College of Medicine, Daraga Community College, Divine Word College, Programming Language Technique College, Rapu-Rapu Community College, and Republic Colleges of Guinobatan.

In Camarines Sur, 6 tertiary schools increased their fees : Aeronautical Academy of the Philippines, Ateneo de Naga University, La Consolacion College, STI Computer College, Universidad de Santa Isabel and University of St. Anthony.

Other provinces with tertiary schools allowed for tuition fee hike are AMA Computer Learning Center, Capalonga College, and Mabini College in Camarines Norte, Catanduanes College in Virac, Catanduanes, Masbate Colleges in Masbate City and AMA Computer Learning Center and Veritas College of Irosin in Sorsogon province.

On the other hand, 14 secondary schools in Albay are granted by DepEd to increase fees : were St. Michael Academy in Oas, Divine Word College of Legazpi , Tabaco Pei Ching School, Zamora Memorial College in Bacacay, Daniel B. Pena Memorial College in Tabaco City, St. Agnes Academy in Legazpi City, St. Peter’s Academy in Polangui, St. Mary’s Academy in Ligao City, Computer Arts and Technological College Computer-Oriented High School in Legazpi City, Genecom Institute of Science and Technology in Legazpi City, Dominican School of Camalig, Aquinas University in Legazpi City, Republic Colleges in Guinobatan, Mayon Institute of Science and Technology in Ligao City,and St. Raphael Academy in Legazpi City.

In Camarines Sur, 8 private high schools are permitted to hike tuition fee: St. Joseph Academy in Buhi, La Consolacion College in Iriga City, Ateneo de Naga University, University of St. Anthony in Iriga City, Dominican School of Calabanga , Naga Hope Christian School , Capalonga Parochial School, and Siena College of Tigaon.

In Sorsogon, 5 secondary schools are allowed for increases: Holy Spirit Academy in Irosin, A.G. Villaroya Technological Foundation Institute in Bulan, Jose Reyes Memorial Foundation in Bulusan, Solis Institute Foundation in Bulan and Dominican School of Pilar.

In Camarines Norte, 4 were granted to charge higher tuition : Camarines Norte Colleges in Labo, Our Lady of Lourdes College Foundation and La Consolacion College both in Daet, and St. Francis Parochial School in Talisay.

In Masbate, also 4 private high schools increased fees : Southern Masbate Roosevelt College in Placer, Holy Name Academy in Palanas, Masbate Southern Institute and St. Anthony High School Seminary in Masbate City. (MAL/JJJPerez/DepEd5/CHED5/DPWH5/PIA5-Albay)

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