ZAMBOANGA CITY (PIA) – One of the concerns encountered during the Brigada Eskwela 2023 is the need for additional classrooms for students since there was an increase in the number of enrollees recorded this school year.
The Department of Education (DepEd-9) prepared over 76 schools in Zamboanga City for the reopening of classes for school year 2023 to 2024. DepEd Zamboanga expresses gratitude to the government agencies and private institutions for making the Brigada Eskwela a success.
As of the opening of classes on August 29, there are around 208,000 enrollees already in Zamboanga City and according to Vennie Elicano, Senior Education Program Specialist of DepEd Zamboanga, these numbers are expected to increase as the enrolment is still ongoing.
Aside from the paint, student’s school supplies and classroom materials that are needed by the schools, DepEd is also seeking for more classrooms especially after the implementation of face-to-face classes. The Local Government Unit of Zamboanga City also donated classroom buildings and multipurpose buildings for the preparation of school reopening.
DepEd Zamboanga reported 23 new classrooms and 3 multipurpose buildings were turned-over this year. More so, to address the challenge on the lack of classrooms, school heads also identified some strategies and intervention as alternative, based on the school characteristics that could be considered for the shifting of classes. The shifts, usually separate groups of students during a school day. The first group usually attends school from early morning until mid-day, and the second group usually attends from mid-day to late afternoon.
Furthermore, DepEd Zamboanga also looks at the advantage of digitalization in new learning approach introducing their Digital Rise Program, a transformational development program focuses on the enhancement and proper utilization of educational technology in support of all types of teaching and learning environments.
Digitalization helps in increasing the productivity of teaching and non-teaching staff by enabling technology as a tool and act as an aid in their sphere of work and digitalization brings in a more practical approach to tracking students’ performance. “Technology can play an important role in capturing the detail of students’ work, which helps teachers and parents monitor how a child is progressing,” Elicano said. (RVC/JQB-GIP/PIA9-Zamboanga)
