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90 percent of KagES AC units are defective
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Posted on Mar 30 2009
Almost all 60 units, or 90 percent, of Kagman Elementary School’s air-conditioning units are either inefficient or defective, according to an inspection conducted by the school’s technicians.
KagES principal Ignacia Demapan disclosed Saturday that since the school opened in 2000, these units were never replaced due to lack of funding.
KagES is home to 624 students from Kindergarten to fifth grade.
Six KagES classrooms are, in fact, operating without any air-conditioning.
Since early last year, school’s cafeteria has been using electric fans to diffuse the heat.
Demapan said the cost of replacing the cafeteria’s air-conditioning units is $35,000. The amount, she said, is unaffordable for them at this time.
The principal said the school is allocated a meager $30,000 for operations and “all others” expenses for the entire year.
Because of this, any repair, whether minor and major, has been put on hold to sustain the urgent needs of students on campus.
“It’s like weighing which part is more important and which one is not…like drinking water versus aircon maintenance or toiletries versus aircon repair,” Demapan said.
The local government is currently experiencing a severe drop in revenue and collections due to the death of the garment industry and the slump in tourist arrivals, resulting in limited budgets for agencies like public schools.
Last Saturday, a total of $10,000 was raised by the school’s PTA from its cultural day festivities.
Demapan said a big portion of that amount will be used to procure fans for the classrooms and cafeteria.
“That’s our major concern here in KagES. We need to buy more fans because every day the number of operational air-cons continue to drop and we’re thinking of our students,” she said.
The principal admitted that the replacement of all the rusty and dilapidated air-con units is the only solution for the school.
With the coming of the stimulus funds from the federal government, Demapan is hopeful that a resolution to the school’s persistent problem will soon be reached.
