Doubts on setup for public studes in private schools

It has been in the news recently that, given the continuing and admittedly irremediable inadequacy of classrooms in our public schools nationwide, the government is providing an annual subsidy of P10,000 in the city and P6,000 in the provinces for each qualified high school student who are enrolled in private schools because they could not be accommodated in public schools.

This undertaking appears great, but only on the surface.

The P10,000-subsidy per student is equivalent to P100,000 for 10 students and P1 million for 100 students. This is the amount that government will spend every year for the next five years under the newly instituted K to 12 education system.

On second look, however, P1 million is enough to build at least two new classrooms which, if properly maintained, are going to last for the next 10 to 15 years. And so I ask: Can’t the government be a little bit less imprudent in solving one of this country’s most perennial problems?

As I refuse to believe that our public finance managers would fail to see through this very basic analysis, I cannot help but doubt the sincerity用erhaps the very extent熔f the government’s much avowed educational subsidy.

由UDY L. CORONEL,

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