LEGAZPI CITY—PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN THE country lack at least 30,000 teachers, a problem that can be addressed by investing more funds on the education sector despite the crisis, Education Secretary Jesli Lapus said Monday.
Lapus, who was in Albay province for the formal turnover of school buildings donated by the United Nation’s Children’s Fund (Unicef), said the whole world is now focused on education as the best anti-poverty measure amid the global financial crisis.
“But I believe we are not that vulnerable to the crisis. We are far from the eye of the storm, so to speak” he said.
Lapus added that there are no indications of a declining trend in the amount of foreign aid pouring in for the education sector as the world crunch looms.
As proof, he cited the Safe Schools Project of the Unicef, which aims to build 60 classrooms in 49 schools and to rehabilitate 86 classrooms in 36 schools with funds of at least $321,000.
“I believe that our country is not so vulnerable to the crisis. We have a diversified economy and sources (of foreign aid),” Lapus said.
He added that there are countries, like Australia, that have increased their aid for the country’s education by as much as three to four times.
Lapus said the classroom gap is also gradually being bridged.
“We now generally have a 1-is-to-45-classroom-student ratio, which is what the law requires,” he said.
The Safe Schools Project aims to build elevated hazard-resilient classrooms that can also serve as safer evacuation centers in times of disasters. There are now 16 typhoon-proof school buildings in Bicol.
The buildings are made of concrete and steel while the roof is reinforced by concrete beams to withstand pressure. The floor line is built one meter above the ground. Ephraim Aguilar, Inquirer Southern Luzon
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