Cutting Classes Is Counter-Productive

Jan. 30,2010
Cutting Classes Is Counter-Productive
By Quirico M. Gorpido, Jr,

The recent decision of DepEd Secretary Jesli Lapus to cut the hours of classes in all public schools nationwide due to overpopulation is not at all the correct solution.. His measure, however, is contrary to logic to the current overpopulation of students in the elementary and high school. In fact the overpopulation of public schools in 2 levels of learning is a success to Sir Lapus’ desire that Filipino children should be in school.
The proper solution to overpopulation is to build additional school buildings in every province of the nation. The huge funds for the construction of school buildings or class rooms in the whole country should be included in the yearly national budget.. While waiting for the additional class rooms, our DepEd officials have to make do first with makeshift classrooms. With permits from barangay officials, barangay covered courts, some unused buildings and vacant lots can be used as temporary venues where chairs can be placed for holding classes.
Our elementary and high school teachers must also encourage and persuade those whom they know to be bright students in their respective classes to take up education. One of the ways to develop the love for teaching is for teachers to inculcate in the minds of their students the nobleness of becoming teachers in public schools and state universities. Salaries and allowances for teachers should also be adjusted for increases according to their positions and ranks.
When I was a student in the elementary and high school in Ozamis City (my second home) every subject was taught for fourty five minutes. Whether the subject is English, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Social Studies/History, Pilipino, Economics or Geometry. Any subject that is taught for less than 45 minutes is sub-standard and inefficient, particularly for slow learners.
However, I would like to suggest that every subject in the elementary and high school should be taught for at least one hour in every session. The suggested duration of the learning process for every subject should not be reduced. This is the ideal length of time in teaching a subject, beneficial to both the average students and the slow learners in the two levels. Students should also be encouraged to ask questions to their teachers if the topic or topics being discussed are not clear to them.Why. Because there are teachers who seem to be contended in teaching but without taking into consideration how their students have fared in their classes. It would be unproductive if some students who do not understand the topics discussed in classes were left on their own and were groping for clarification to their unexpressed questions.
The one-hour lecture/discussion of every subject should be made as the standard teaching policy in all public schools in the elementary and secondary school.Nevertheless,in State universities the teaching of each subject would of course differ in hours, depending upon the college subjects being taught by the professors.
Again, reducing the length of one hour learning process in every subject is not at all the solution to the present overpopulation of students in public schools. Instead it will make our young students low performers in their academic activities. Also, it will not make them competitive as those who have received adequate learning time from their mentors/instructors. Rather it is a counterproductive approach that will badly affect the proper and effective acquisition of adequate knowledge and skills among the entire studentry in our country. (Quirico M. Gorpido,Jr.)