UNPRECEDENTED. Over a billion children worldwide are out of the classroom. The COVID-19 has resulted in schools shut all across the world. There are more than 1.2 billion children in 186 countries affected by school closures. In the Philippines alone, if school opening is further delayed this school year, private schools nationwide are bracing for an estimated revenue loss of Php 55 billion, and may shoot up to P142 billion if classes do not open at all. About 16 percent elementary and high school students are in private schools. Aside from students, school personnel are also affected. There are 400,000 teachers, faculty, and non-teaching staff in private schools all over the country. They are either on reduced pay or no pay at all because of work stoppage while under quarantine.
But Chevalier School is not on the verge of bankruptcy. It has a guaranteed curriculum and is financially sound and viable. Ironically, our alma mater is confronted by an impending man-made disaster, as in the likelihood of massive disruption of a settled children’s education and lay-offs has been a sword of Damocles over the caballeros and working personnel. Collateral damage in the land ownership conflict are the learners and teachers.
In my previous column entitled, “Chevalier School: Life begins at 60” dated July 3, 2020, I have analogized to a senior citizen who is kept under control by COVID-19 quarantine protocols, my alma mater, the 60-YEAR old Chevalier School (CS) will cease to exist not because of the coronavirus pandemic but in the midst of land ownership squabble involving the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Fernando (RCASF) as the landowner and the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (MSC) as the lessee.
As a matter of fact, the school’s life span was resuscitated for another 15 years reckoned from school year 2017-2018 to 2033 after the Regional Trial Court rendered confirmation, validation and making permanent the writ of preliminary injunction dated March 24, 2017 citing “a reasonable basis on the need to protect petitioners-students’ right to finish their course and the necessity to grant injunction on the respondents’ imminent act of executing a new lease of contract that materially invades petitioners-students’ rights to education.” The petition was filed on behalf of the petitioners-students by CS parent and lawyer Regina Gopez-Agustin. Under Section 1., Article XIV of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, “The State shall protect and promote the right of all citizens to quality education at all levels, and shall take appropriate steps to make such education accessible to all.”
In a recent joint hearing chaired by city councilors and fellow caballeros Dr. Alfie Bonifacio and Atty. Arvin Pogs Suller of the committees on education and laws, the Department of Education (DepEd) expressed alarm over the imminent repercussions and disbelief of the sudden closure of Chevalier School. DepEd Division of City School-Angeles City representative Glen Sarmiento, who is in charge of private schools, said their primary concern is the welfare of the students who will be displaced which is tantamount to the revocation of the school’s recognition, from zero status it requires a minimum of six years in order to regain its recognition. There are 1,300 students from kindergarten to grade 12, and 89 teaching and non-teaching personnel who are directly affected by the closure not to mention as well its economic impact in the transportation, trade and commerce, and service-oriented industries which have been symbiotically co-existent with the institution for more than 60 years. The senior high students are affected to a great degree by the impending closure due to strand variations in the DedEd’s Senior High School Core Curriculum Subjects. Not all schools teach the subjects at the same time, for example, philosophy is included in the Chevalier school curriculum for grade 11, however other schools teach this subject in grade 12 hence it is highly possible for caballeros to become irregular students once they transfer to another school.
Sarmiento also warned that public and private schools in Angeles City have no capacity to accommodate transferees in the event face-to-face classes are resumed. Moreover, the hiring outlook remains dim for displaced personnel amid the rising coronavirus cases. Unemployment claims dipped for the past months and there is slowdown in hiring, and not an increase in labor demand. The longer the pandemic dampens or halts the operations of schools, the more likely job displacement or unemployment is on the increase.
Sarmiento also said the school is yet to submit a formal letter of closure before the academic year ends by April or May as well as a contingency plan on the students’ transfer applications. He cited that based on records, Chevalier School is in good standing and compliant with DepEd laws and policies.
Meanwhile, Veejay Tanglao, one of the prominent crusaders of the Save CS Movement and Chevalier School Alumni Association (CSAA), expressed his apprehensions over the sad plight of students and personnel as they have appealed repeatedly to Archbishop Florentino Lavarias to grant a dignified and graceful exit for the school by extending its operations from 10-15 years in the property located in Barangay Sto. Domingo while laying the groundwork for relocation.
Traditional school operations may halt, but learning must not. Accepting the challenges of the COVID19 pandemic, Chevalier School has innovated a “Learning Continuity Plan” transforming the traditional in-person classes to online learning to cope with the requirements of the new normal.
onsultations and surveys were conducted to employees, parents and students, health and safety standards are observed, teachers have attended webinars about the adjustments to be made, Deped’s most essential learning competencies were reviewed, and the faculty members have offered their readiness and commitment in providing continuous quality education.
As the Chevalier’s hymn goes, “To be gallant to his people and his land, to be noble in ways, to be gentle at heart, to be strong in conviction, and to be FEARLESS AND BRAVE.”