Parents of school children– like these students in Naga City Central School seen taking part in a safety exercise–were expected to help pay for guards.
When it comes to securing public schools in the countryside, it’s up to school officials and the parents to find ways to protect their schoolchildren from harm.
This came after the Department of Education (DepEd-7) regional office admitted that it doesn’t have a budget to hire security guards for public schools in Cebu and the rest of Central Visayas.
“It’s up to the school and the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) to raise funds to hire security guards or assign someone like the janitor to guard the school gates,” said DepEd-7 Public Information Officer Amaryllis Villarmia.
She said the bulk of their budget goes to paying teachers and non-teaching personnel such as utility workers and the operation and maintenance of existing public schools.
Villarmia said only large private schools can afford to hire security guards. She said they can ask barangays to assign tanods to patrol the schools.
Last Friday, a 35-year-old mother identified as Lucita Rebuyas was shot in the head by her former common-law partner Syrin Anotado during the graduation ceremonies of her child at Balao Elementary School in Barili town.