By Dominic B. dela Cruz
Staff reporter
Batac City—The Department of Education (DepEd) Regional Office temporarily approved the double shifting of classes of the City of Batac National High School (CBNHS) Poblacion Campus.
The first shift will be from 6 am to 12 noon, while the second shift starts at 12 noon until 6 pm.
Batac schools division superintendent Joanne A. Corpuz made the announcement.
She said the double shift was necessary due to the high number of enrollees in the said school.
Records show that CBNHS poblacion campus had an abrupt increase of 149 junior high school enrollees for SY 2018-2019, compared to only 85 students last school year.
To solve the problem on classrooms shortage, the DepEd regional office considered the double shifting of classes until the availability of classrooms.
Ms. Corpuz said the school has now a buildable space for 12 classrooms and the construction will start soon as DepEd considers it as a “priority project”.
For the first shift from 6 am to 12 noon, students from the grade 7 together with the special program in the arts and special science until 2 pm while the second shift from 12 noon to 6 pm are the students from the Grades 8 to 10. There are 20 classes each in the morning and afternoon.
Ms. Corpuz said they conducted a general assembly meeting and a series of consultations with all the parents, and they also sent the matter to the local government unit for information dissemination to the tricycle associations on the needs of students and teachers’ available transportation.
On July 6,2018, they held a dry run of the said double shifting and found out it to be effective with the help and cooperation of the tricycle transportation and the police for the peace and order situation.
Mr. Corpuz said the full implementation started on July 9, 2018.
With the implementation, Ms. Corpuz said the students and parents found it beneficial because they have more time to help their families as they only go to school for a half a day only.
“Tapnu kanu makatulong pay dagitoy ubbing iti balbalay da ta half day laengen iti klase da ken basbassit payen iti gastos dagiti nagannak ta imbes a mamintallo iti ipabalun dan gapu iti mirienda iti bigat, pangaldaw ken mirienda manen iti malem, itan ket mirienda laengen iti bigat wennu iti malem ta managan da met pangaldaw idiay balbalay dan,” Ms. Corpuz said.
School records also show that there are also students here from the different municipalities, including 41 from Currimao, 35 from Paoay, seven from Pinili and one from Laoag City.
Meanwhile, Batac DepEd official Nemalyn Ulep announced that the City of Batac National High School (CBNHS)-Rayuray formally opened this SY 2018-2019 with 35 Grade 7 students.
Ms. Ulep said the newly opened school borrowed four teachers from the different schools in Batac.
The school temporarily occupies a building at Rayuray Elementary School while waiting for the construction of a four-classroom building which completion is scheduled on the third quarter of this year.
The CBNHS Rayuray was conceived in 2014 through Guilermo Quemquem and the five neighboring barangays: Nagbacalan, Camandingan, Baoa West, Baoa East and Palompong.
This is to solve the issue of elementary graduates who could hardly afford to travel and study at the poblacion for secondary level.
Former city DepEd superintendent and now the provincial schools superintendent Vilma Eda presented the proposal to the city council. She earlier proposed for the creation of Baoa Integrated School but said concept failed to materialize.
With the desire of former Batac Mayor Jeffrey Nalupta for the creation of high school in the area, a resolution from the city council was approved for the conduct of feasibility study.
The city government supported the outcome of the study through a resolution for the establishment of CBNHS Rayuray and that the city government appropriated funds for the acquisition of lot for the construction of school building.