With enrollment reaching over 7,000 students by 7 a.m. on the first day of School Year 2025–2026, Tenement Elementary School in Taguig was forced to split some of its classrooms using temporary partitions to accommodate the growing number of learners.
According to Dr. Maria Fernandez, School Principal IV of Tenement Elementary School, the school had already recorded 7,222 students from Grade 1 to Grade 6 by early morning, and the number is expected to increase.
“Kaya ‘yung 7,222, warm body po kasi ‘yun eh. So ibig sabihin, ‘yung panghapon assist lang ginawa. Pero ‘yung pang-umaga po, ‘yun na po ‘yung bata.”
(That 7,222 is based on warm bodies. It means only the afternoon was assisted, but the morning sessions already had all the students.)
“Pwede po madagdagan dahil ongoing pa po ang aming enrollment. So hanggang Friday makukuha po namin ‘yung bilang talaga.”
(The number could still increase since our enrollment is ongoing. We’ll get the final count by Friday.)
To cope with the classroom shortage, the school resorted to dividing some learning spaces.
“’Yun na po ‘yung ibang classroom namin, lalo na ‘yung para sa mga maliliit. Hinati po namin para magkasya po ‘yung mga estudyante namin.”
(We divided some of our classrooms, especially the smaller ones, to make room for more students.)
However, not all classrooms could be split due to space limitations, especially for higher grade levels.
“’Yung para sa Grade 5 and 6, hindi po namin puwedeng hatiin dahil maliit ‘yung size ng classroom at saka good for 40. The maximum is 45.”
(For Grades 5 and 6, we can’t divide the rooms because they’re too small — they’re good for 40, with a maximum of 45.)
The school currently has 238 teachers, but Dr. Fernandez admits that this number might not be enough if enrollment continues to climb.
“Pag nadagdagan at nadagdagan po, palagay ko magkukulang po ‘yun… Kulang pa rin po.”
(If enrollment continues to rise, I think we’ll run short… We still lack teachers.)
Despite these challenges, the school has not implemented a shifting schedule and instead maximizes its space to fit students in existing classrooms.
“Ay, hindi po ako nag-ano ng extra shift talaga. Talagang sinisiksik lang namin. Kasi wala rin akong maibigay na teacher.”
(No, we’re not implementing extra shifts. We’re just squeezing in students because we have no more teachers to assign.)
Fernandez added that classroom sizes vary, with some sections having 20 to 31 students, and higher levels reaching up to 40 or more per class.
“Sa ngayon po kasi bago pa lang ‘yung ano. Mayroong 1 is to 20, mayroong 1 is to 31… ang Grade 6, parang 1 is to 30 plus na sila.”
(Right now, it’s still early. Some classes have a 1:20 ratio, others 1:31… for Grade 6, it’s about 1:30 or more.)
One of the buildings in the school also burned down in December, complicating the classroom situation further. Still, Fernandez said they are doing what they can to make the room usable again.
“Nasunog po ‘yung isang building namin… so ang ginawa ko, nag-ano po ako ng contractor na mag-upgrade na po ng electricity namin doon sa room na ‘yun.”
(One of our buildings caught fire… so we hired a contractor to upgrade the electricity in that room.)
Despite the space and teacher shortage, Fernandez expressed gratitude to the local government for providing all necessary school supplies and utilities, from air conditioning to teacher salaries and utility staff.
“Provided po ng local lahat ng gamit ng bata. From uniform to school supply, aircon, at saka lahat po.”
(The local government provided everything the students need — from uniforms to school supplies, air-conditioning, and everything else.)
As enrollment continues this week, the school hopes additional support will be given by DepEd and the local government to build more classrooms on the property.
“Ang hinihiling namin, together with the LGU, na maidonate ‘yung lupa para madagdagan kami… welcome po ang local o DepEd para magpatayo ng classroom,” she added.
(What we are requesting, together with the LGU, is for the land to be donated so we can expand… whether it’s the local government or DepEd, they are welcome to build more classrooms.) —LDF, GMA Integrated News
