Soroptimist Week
set in Bacolod

The Soroptimist International of Bacolod will celebrate Soroptimist Week August 24-30 with activities for the benefit of women and girls, a press release from the group said.

The celebration will start with a health forum for pregnant women in Medalla Milagrosa, Barangay Villamonte, Bacolod, on August 24, where supplementary vitamins will be given to pregnant women. Nurse Erwin Apsay of the VMA Global College, will discuss the benefits of breastfeeding at the forum, the press release also said.

The Soroptimists, led by its president Em Ang, will also conduct a tree planting activity, donation of school materials and books to the Soroptimist Daycare Center in Taculing, repair and repaint the Balay Pasilungan for abused women and girls, and will hold a mass in honor of Mariquita Castelo, founder of Soroptimist in the Philippines.

Ang and president-elect Sonya Verdeflor have filed a resolution in the Sangguniang Panlungsod to declare August 24-30 as Soroptimist Week in Bacolod.

SI Bacolod is an international organization for business and professional women, who volunteer their time, talents and resources to improve the lives of women and girls in the communities, the press release added.*

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IN TALISAY
Principals question
teacher-student ratio order

Elementary and secondary public schools principals and administrators in Talisay City, Negros Occidental, met with Mayor Eric Saratan recently to raise their concerns on the directives of the Department of Education Secretary Armin Luistro to maximize teacher to student ratio, a press release from the city said.

The school officials said their classrooms cannot accommodate the maximum allowable students per teacher ratio as directed by the DepEd. Under the directive, they said, teachers handling kindergarten to grade 2 should have a maximum of 45 students, 50 students in grades 3 and 4, and 55 for grades 5 and 6, the press release also said.

The principals said majority of classrooms are congested, and teachers are forced to remove cabinets, instructional materials and desks to accommodate the students.

They also questioned the basis of DepEd in declaring that some public schools have an excess in regular teaching personnel, contrary to the real situation, and demanded the return of para-teachers, or literacy workers, who had helped a lot in unloading the teaching loads of regular teachers, the press release said.

Saratan said he will order personnel of the City Engineers Office to conduct a survey and measurement of classrooms in all city public schools to serve as basis for his position paper, the press release added.*

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