Expect for “no perfect” attendance on opening of classes, DepEd official says

By Robert E. Roperos

Saturday 2nd of June 2012

BUTUAN CITY, June 2 (PIA) -- An official of the Department of Education (DepEd), Butuan City Division said it is expected that there will be no perfect attendance on opening of classes especially in far-flung areas.

Dr. Israel Reveche, DepEd Butuan City Division information officer said that based on the previous years, no perfect attendance of pupils and students were noted in far-flung barangays.

However, the official said because of the successful conduct of Brigada Eskwela, DepEd officials here hoped that there will be good turnout of attendance during Monday’s opening of classes, since they (pupils and students) will no longer use the first day of the class for cleaning and beautifying their classrooms as this was already made during the Brigada Eskwela.

Dr. Reveche further said that in as far as the availability of teachers is concerned, he said to date there is enough number of teachers to accommodate the number of enrollees in the elementary department of the region.

Furthermore, Reveche admitted that there is lack of high school teachers in the city as the number of enrollees has increased this school year.

He also said this happened because DepEd-Butuan City Division has opened Integrated Schools (IS) this year, adding to the 18 regular high schools in the city.

Dr. Reveche said the division office, as well as the local school board and the local government unit here have worked out to address this problem by urging the parents during the conduct of "Brigada Eskwela" to send their children even during the first week of class so that they can familiarize their classrooms, teachers, and new classmates.

He also said it is on this period that textbooks will be distributed to pupils and students. "Thus, there is a need for them (pupils and students) to be present during the first week of classes so that they can have the needed textbooks," Reveche said.

According to DepEd, Integrated Schools offer a complete basic education in one school site and has unified instructional programs. This is embodied in DepEd Order No. 91, series of 1999 entitled, Guidelines on the Establishment and Operation of Integrated Schools.

On August 6, 2011, DepEd issued Memorandum No. 196, series of 2011 creating the Task Force on the Operation of Integrated Schools. The order mandated the task force to review DepEd Order No. 91, series of 1999.

The task force is also mandated to conduct researches and gather feedbacks from existing integrated schools, as well as to craft, formulate and enhance guidelines to include the standards criteria and staffing patterns among others on the establishment of new IS or conversion of schools into IS considering or integrating the concepts and principles of the IS in the implementation of the K to 12 Basic Education Program.

Under the memorandum, task force is also tasked to coordinate with the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for technical assistance and other pertinent concerns to facilitate the finalization of the enhanced guidelines.

Likewise, they will consult with the stakeholders on the effectiveness of the enhanced or reformulated guidelines. It will also finalize and disseminate the revised Guidelines on the Establishment and Operation of Integrate Schools milestone through a DepEd Order, and report regularly to DepEd Secretary regarding developmental activities and output of the task force.

In other developments, DepEd-Caraga said a total of 2,507 Grade 1 teachers for K to 12 from the different divisions in the region attended the series of trainings in preparation for the opening of classes on June 4, 2012. (RER – PIA-Caraga)