By EUGENE ADIONG
BACOLOD City — Classroom shortage in public schools is a problem that still pervades Negros Occidental, Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr. said.
The governor put the blame on insufficient funding.
For instance, the province’s premier public high school, the Negros Occidental High School (NOHS) here, needs 65 additional classrooms for its increasing student population.
Due to the shortage of classrooms, NOHS had to use facilities at the neighboring Paglaum Sports Complex, Marañon said.
“The provincial government is providing 45 additional rooms, but (the school) would need 20 more,” said the governor.
He said the classrooms courtesy of the capitol will be ready by middle of July.
“The national government should provide more classrooms for public schools,” said Marañon.
Marañon also lamented that the teacher-student ratio at NOHS is 1:60, which is above the ideal 1:35–40.
“We want (NOHS) to move out of Paglaum (Sports Complex)” so the facility can be used by the capitol-run Negros Occidental Language and Information Technology Center (NOLITC), the governor said.
NOLITC, which contributes to the production of more IT and business process outsourcing talents, itself needs more classrooms and has to provide a place to stay for its students from the municipalities.
For poor families with students studying in the capital city, the cost of board and lodging here is very costly, Marañon said./PN
