Despite the congestion during the change in class shifts, the Catanduanes National High School rated as nearly excellent its handling of the opening of face-to-face classes last week.
With 5,589 students actually enrolled in junior and senior high school, the island’s biggest public secondary school had to contend with congestion at its gates at mid-noon especially on Monday when the first shift that reported at 6:30 AM left for home, to be met by the second shift that starts at 12:30 PM.
School principal Amelia Eusebio, however, said that the problem is not so much from Tuesday to Friday, as Grades 7 to 10 go on one-day breaks.
“We have a contingency plan to use the exit gate at the side of the CNHS compound adjoining the athletic complex but we cannot use it for now due to its muddy condition. Perhaps when it dries out, we will be able to use it as exit for students occupying the PAGCOR two-storey buildings and the Verceles building,” she added.
Those occupying the buildings on the right side of the campus as well as employees go out the main gate while the small gate at the right side is for Grade 8, 9 and TVL students, with the other small gate at the left for Grade 7, 10 and senior high school.
Last Friday during the Tribune interview, Eusebio said that the flow of students in and out of the school was already smooth as they were already familiar with the procedure.
“Hopefully magiging maayos na by next week but we will check again because almost 6,000 students come to school every Monday when they all come to class together,” she stated.
The principal disclosed that the chief of the traffic enforcement grouo asked if the school had other plans to address the congestion at the close of class hours from 5:45 to 6:30 PM as it was very difficult to control the crowding of the students.
“We will sit down for feedbacking to consider observations and recommend measures to address the issue,” Eusebio said.
For now, the school has no problem with classroom availability due to the shifting schedule but the issue right now is the lack of chairs.
With some students bringing their own chairs to their classes especially among the senior high school, the Parents-Teachers Association headed by Atty. Louie Guerrero has donated 200 pieces of chairs worth almost P100,000.00 for the senior high, Principal Eusebio bared.
As far the health protocols are concerned, the school moved the thermal scanners from the gate to inside the campus to limit the queues and make it safer for the students.
On the other hand, the principal remarked that the 150 controversial laptops delivered to the school are functioning well based on the specifications, quoting the ICT coordinator, and this has been reported to the division office.
She thanked the parents for enrolling their kids at CNHS and vowed to repay their trust and confidence with good service to the students who she hopes would see the school as their second home.