House approves bill for 2 new Baguio national high schools

December 7, 2020 Headlines

The House of Representatives approved on their third reading two bills that seek the conversion of two high school annexes in Baguio City into independent national high schools.
The lower chamber approved House Bill (HB) 7994 and HB 7995, which propose to convert the Fort del Pilar and Hillside Annexes of the Baguio City National High Schools into independent national high schools. The conversion of these annexes into independent institutions is sought to better serve the youth of Baguio City and provide them with standard quality education.
According to Baguio City representative Mark Go, the bills’ author, both annexes were created in order to support the school’s massive student population, which saw a total number of 8,257 enrollees in June 2019.
However, with limited staff and resources, these schools are under-equipped to cater to more students from surrounding neighborhoods without sacrificing the quality of instruction and learning. The Fort del Pilar annex has 778 students and 29 teachers, while the Hillside annex has 230 students and 9 teachers.
Cong. Mark Go said that the schools would cater to students from surrounding barangays so they can have access to a national high school and relieve its mother school from the burden of overpopulation.
The Baguio congressman added that the conversion of these annexes would allow these schools to accommodate more students and provide them with a conducive learning environment, with improved facilities and adequate student-teacher ratio.
The conversion would also provide more efficient services by decentralizing leadership, management, and school supervision. It would also allow these former annexes to manage its maintenance and other operating expenses, as well as the establishment of its own plantilla positions as deemed necessary.
Cong. Mark Go added that improving the access and quality of basic education was imperative especially in Baguio City, as it continues to flourish as a technology and investment hub in northern Luzon.
The two bills will be transmitted to the Senate for its deliberation and approval.