Ten public high schools in Quezon City have extended their Blended Learning modality despite the full resumption of face-to-face classes due to the shortage of classrooms and teachers.
Despite the shortage, the QC govt expresses their support for f2f classes; provides assistance to schools that are still in a blended learning modality.
The Quezon City Government vowed to continue supporting the 10 public high schools despite the shortage according to the Schools Division Office — Quezon City which had asked DepEd NCR to extend blended learning modality in these select schools.
Those which were not able to implement full face-to-face classes include high schools of Justice Cecilia Munoz Palma, Bagong Silangan, Batasan Hills, Balara, San Bartolome, Novaliches, Dona Rosario, Ismael Mathay Sr., New Era and Emilio Jacinto.
According to the Education Affairs Unit of the city government, the temporary classroom shortage in Ismael Mathay Sr. High School is due to the yellow-tagged rooms that are subject to minor repairs based on the City Engineering Department's post-earthquake assessment.
There is also an ongoing construction of a new school in Barangay Bagong Silangan. An 8-storey school building with 52 classrooms is also currently under construction in Barangay Bagbag.
Two new school buildings in Barangay Sta. Monica will also be operational next year which can help ease the classroom needs of Novaliches High School.
The city will be allocating funds for the construction of an additional building in Justice Cecilia Munoz Palma High School and reconstruction of buildings in San Bartolome High School, Batasan Hills National High School, and Dona Rosario High School.
According to SDO-QC, New Era High School is considering sharing classrooms with a nearby public elementary school.
For schools with no buildable space such as Balara High School, the city government continues to determine other possible measures to address classroom shortage by identifying vacant lots, utilizing city-owned buildings nearby and extending another storey/s in school buildings if permitted.
Emilio Jacinto National High School is currently looking for additional 26 teachers to proceed with the face-to-face classes as it is one of the newly-established schools in the city.
Meanwhile, the city government is continuously distributing tablets and laptops with internet allowance for students and teachers regardless of the learning modality they are in.
In order to address the classroom shortage in the long term, the city will create a task force that will oversee the infrastructure needs of school children in coordination with various national government agencies.