We stumbled upon this pic on Reddit:
It shows a bunch of people seated on the rows of benches and tables they provide at the 24/7 convenience store, the visual effect being that they look like students in the thick of taking an exam.
Just the kind of off-the-cuff hilarious meme we like to consume on social media. But at AO, we look at memes with very sharp and critical minds, para hindi masabi sa office na pinapasweldo kami sa pagsasayang ng oras. To us, this pa-kwela photo is a strong statement about the sheer lack of classrooms in the country.
A simple Google search of news items gives us a good picture of the situation. Rappler reports that for the school year 2019-2020 DepEd welcomed over 27 million students from kinder to senior high school. The Manila Bulletin reports that a budget hearing reveals that for the same school year we have a shortage of 34,000 classrooms.
So if push comes to shove, pwede naman pala sa 7-11—if they will put public service above all else. At least naka-aircon at malapit sa canteen…because it is the canteen!