A Case Study on the School Plant Management of
Geras Integrated School
An effective utilization, monitoring, and maintenance of school plant have become a big
line of question for Geras Integrated School. As observed, the school has been experiencing
persistent cases on looting, classroom and ground deterioration, inefficient utilization of
teaching-learning facilities, and safety issues among some students. Alongside these problems,
there are also pervading concerns on bullying, commotion in schools brought about by some
group of students, riots, increasing number of dropouts and truants, and most of all low
achievement rates among students as manifested in the National Achievement Test results of
Grade 6, and Grades 7 and 10 students. The proliferation of these problems is so alarming that
needs to be taken seriously. The school principal needs to consider examining the root cause of
these problems so that an appropriate actions can be taken. Otherwise, when left unattended for a
long time, and if no corrective and preventive actions will be taken, these problems, issues, and
concerns will just keep on happening which could eventually affect the over-all performance of
the school in the long run to include the teaching-learning process, students and teachers’ morale,
and the total-being and wellness of the school itself.
In terms of school plant utilization, as per record, a number of facilities and equipment
such as computer sets, books, Science apparatuses, Math teaching essentials, etc. have been
provided for by the Department of Education-Isabela City Division but as observed, while some
of these facilities and equipment are not fully utilized, others remain totally unutilized over the
years. Just like for instance, the 50 units of brand new computer sets provided for the secondary
students by the DepEd Data Computerization Program (DCP) project, have just been stashed in a
classroom a few months later it was setup leaving it unused for almost two years now. It was
because the classroom which used to house these computer units was divided into halves, of
which half of it was turned into a district office as decided by the school Principal. The decision
made on this left the computer units with inadequate space thereby making it unusable for the
learners. Another issue that has been placed on deck is the science and math apparatuses. These
teaching essentials have not been fully utilized because of the teachers’ lack of orientation on its
use, and the benefits it brings. Thus as a result, these facilities have just been kept in their boxes
of which mostly are showing no signs of usage.
The issue on monitoring and maintenance of school plant as mentioned above are another
two concerns that need a serious attention from everyone in school as it has put the latter in a
chaotic state due to a number of affronting incidents that are deemed to have been caused by
ineffective monitoring or lack of culture of maintenance of school plant. This assumption is
supported by an actual number of cases that occurred in school to include a recent incident that
occurred last March 31, 2018, wherein ornamental plants which were beautifully placed with
care outside of some of the elementary and secondary classrooms, its jalousies, and plant boxes
in school have been destroyed by some culprits whose identities are unidentified yet. This is the
nth time that an incident like this happened, and just like the previous, the only response that the
teachers could do was to just pick the rubbles up and dead plants, and replant. This deteriorating
activity has quite become a hassle to teachers and students due to the fact that the product of their
sweat, time, and effort in keeping the school ground aesthetically appealing couldn’t be
maintained as hard as the efforts they invested for it.
Aside from the apparent school plant destructions as shown in the attached pictures (see
Appendix A), there have been also some reports on the loss of some facilities and equipment in
school. Just last week, a medium-sized rectangular aquarium inside a certain Grade-9 classroom
got lost. Last month also, somebody looted the canteen being managed by the elementary
department, wherein almost 90% of its contents were taken away. However, after doing some
investigations, it was found out that one of the students enrolled in school was responsible for the
said looting thereby, verbally reprimanding him for that unacceptable act. This incident was then
repeated when the office of the Guidance coordinator was ransacked reporting loss of plastic
guns and other objects confiscated from students.
In addition, two cases of students who accidentally broke their arms were reported just
recently. This incident happened when students while performing their lesson activity,
accidentally sliopped on the slope-sided walk during the conduct of the activity. An ambulance
was immediately called and that was the only time that the two were able to receive a first aid
treatment since school clinic was not equipped with the necessary first aid essentials.
Above are just some of the actual incidents that have had occurred in school which are
deemed to have been to a great extent caused by ineffective management of school plant.
Although the school has been in operation since 2011, however, its perimeter has not been
fenced yet thereby making it vulnerable to various forms of destruction, deterioration, and even
looting. It seems to be an open house for everyone which they can just come and go from as they
wish, as much as the outsiders do. These problems as cited above could have been mitigated or
prevented if the school buildings are made secure. This can be done by surrounding the school
with a good fence and assigning somebody to look after the school plant even after school hours.
This is the best time for the school Principal to call for a PTA meeting so that teachers, parents
and the community will be informed about the progress and struggles of the school. The inputs
of the community should be valued and considered, as it can be a powerful means to address
such concerns.