EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES AND SERVICES

The relatively good high level of educational achievement levels in Sipalay is indicative of the accessibility of basic educational services offered by the City and adjacent areas. Overall, education is relatively accessible. All barangays have at least one-Day Care Center or pre-school. In some barangays, as much as three to seven day care centers can be found, most of which are under the supervision of the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWD), with a few privately administered. There are a total of 55 pre-schools distributed among the 17 barangays, which provide pre-school learning programs.

Primary/elementary education is also relatively available even to the most far-flung barangays. There are 30 public and 1 private elementary schools all throughout the City with a total of 300 classrooms. Each barangay (except the adjacent urban barangays 1 and 2) has at least one elementary school while the more progressive ones have more like Camindangan, which has 7 elementary schools and Nabulao, Manlucahoc and Canturay which have three each.

Enrolment at the elementary level for school year 2003-2004 reached a total of 13,090 students registering a slight increase of one percent from school year 2001-2002. Current classroom-student ratio is 1:44 , which is slightly better than the DEC's standard of 1:45 . Classrooms appear to be more than adequate on the average. However, this is true only for some 53 percent of the elementary schools where the classroom-student ratio range from 1:27 to 1:45 . The rest has a classroom-student ratio ranging from 1:46 to a high of 1:182 implying that there is still a large inadequacy of classrooms in many elementary schools, which is not conducive to quality learning.

The teacher-student ratio, on the other hand, is 1:40 , which falls slightly short but almost meeting the DEC's standard ratio of one teacher per 39 students. Again, this may be true for some schools in some barangays but not for all.

Elementary Education Profile, Sipalay City , SY 2003-2004

Item	Number		Total
	Public	Private
Number of Schools	30	1	31
Enrolment (SY 2003-2004)	12,829	261	13,090
Number of Classrooms	293	7	624
Number of Teachers	324	6	330
Ave Classroom-Student Ratio	1:44	1:37
Ave Teacher-Student Ratio	1:40	1:44

Source: Sipalay Socioeconomic Profile, 2004

At the secondary level of education, there are two main secondary schools located at Gil Montilla ( Gil Montilla National High School ) and Nabulao (Nabulao National High Scholl) with 12 extension schools (in Barangay 5, Binulig, Cabadiangan, Camindangan, Canturay, Cartagena , Manlucahoc, Tanduay, Maricalum and Cayhagan) or a total of 14 high schools. Barangays without a high school such as some of those in the poblacion have access to nearby schools. Enrollment was placed at 4,736 for school year 2003-2004 registering a decrease by about 16 percent compared to SY 2001-2002. Current classroom-student ratio is 1:46 on the average, which is slightly better compared to 1:48 during SY 2001-2002 mainly due to the decrease in enrollment. The teacher-student ratio today, on the other hand, improved to 1:43 from almost 1:48 in SY 2001-2002. Based on DEC's standard of 1:48 for classroom-student ratio and 1:47.5 for teacher-student ratio, Sipalay's elementary schools are well within the required standard if not slightly better.

Secondary School Enrollment as of SY 2003-2004

Item	Number
	Public	Private
Number of Schools	12	2
Enrolment (SY 2003-2004)	4,736	750
Number of Classrooms	97	21
Number of Teachers	107	22
Ave Classroom-Student Ratio	1:49	1:36
Ave Teacher-Student Ratio	1:44	1:34

Source: Sipalay Socioeconomic Profile, 2004

At the tertiary level education, only two schools of higher learning can be found in Sipalay which is accessible mainly to the urban/lowland barangays: one private college and one State College extension campus. There is also one Technical/Vocational School offering short-term technical courses. The combined enrolment in SY 2001-2002 was placed at 616 students with 14 classrooms and 46 teachers.

Tertiary School Enrollment as of SY 2003-2004

School	No. of Teachers	No. of Classroom
Cabarrus Catholic College	19	7
Negros Occ Agricultural College	13	4
St. Jerome Polytechnic College	14	3
Total	46	14

Source: Sipalay Socioeconomic Profile, 2004

There are 13 school buildings and a total of 54 classrooms constructed under the Logofind Project in eight barangays.

The high functional literacy, relatively good access to basic education and good educational achievement in Sipalay is a sound investment in human capital for development.

 

HEALTH FACILITIES AND SERVICES

The health care delivery services of Sipalay City are relatively available to all 17 barangays. They comprise a network of 14 Barangay Health Stations (BHSs) with one main and one sub-station; one private hospital with a 20-bed capacity; one private infirmary and 3 private clinics. They are augmented by private dental and optical clinics, drugstores and 55 Day Care centers operated by the City Government under its City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO).

Health manpower resources include six doctors, one sanitary inspector, three private dentists, nine nurses and support personnel mainly found in the urban center. The Barangay Health Centers are manned by a total of 22 midwives, 260 Barangay Health Workers (BHWs) and trained hilots, 17 Barangay Nutrition Scholars (BNS) and 55 Day Care workers.

It is commendable that almost all barangays have at least one health center with relatively adequate staffing. Some health centers though are already dilapidated and not equipped with adequate facilities and necessary equipment. Medicines are often lacking if not available for simple treatment. For serious illnesses requiring confinement, hospital bed capacity vis-à-vis population is still grossly lacking compared to the standard of 1:500. Health manpower ratio however to population is more than sufficient at this time.

 

Transportation

Sipalay is linked to its various barangays and adjacent towns, cities and other areas within the Negros Island by the existing 269.56-kilometers long road network of national, provincial, city, barangay and private roads. Complementing this is a network of bridges with a total length of 542.16 linear meters.

Road Network Inventory, Sipalay City , 2003

Type	Length (kilometers)	Asphalt (kilometers)	Concrete (kilometers)	All Weather (kilometers)
National	59.7	18.7	6.08	34.92
Provincial	5	0	2.5	2.5
Municipal	27.41	0	8.32	19.09
Barangay	172.95	0	5.5	168.25
Private	4.5	0	0	4.5
Total	269.56	18.7	22.4	229.26

The transportation system is predominantly road-based with strong linkages with existing air and sea terminals in Bacolod City and Dumaguete City . These terminals serve as the central hubs for western Negros , linking directly with Manila in Luzon and Mindanao via Cebu . The road density is about 0.55 kilometers per 100 hectares, less than 20 percent of which are in good paved condition.

There is no regular sea transport, however, to reach the coastal barangays. The existing Campomanes Bay Ecoport, while already operational, is yet to service as a sea link to other areas of the province and the country. Inter-island connection between Sipalay City and the rest of the country is possible via Bacolod City or Dumaguete City , both of which are about 180 kilometers away.

Power Supply

Power is transmitted to the city through a 138 KV transmission line from the Kabankalan sub-station located about 60 kilometers from the City. The line connects to a 50 MVA substation in Barangay Canturay. Distribution to the various households is managed by the Negros Occidental Electric Cooperative, Inc. (NOCECO). All barangays are now energized, although only about 37 percent of the total households have been connected to the system. All of the 17 percent barangays have mostly partial power connections with only the poblacion fully energized, except for Barangay 4. Barangay San Jose is almost 70 percent energized followed by Manlucahoc (45%), Canturay (34%), Nauhang and Nabulao (30%). The least energized barangays are Camindangan (only 12%) and Cartagena (20%). The remaining 63 percent of households not served by electrical connection rely on traditional lighting sources such as gas lamps and candles.

 

Communication

Communication, though still limited, has improved significantly with the installation of high-frequency radio vhf transceiver with interface that allows even portable radios to transmit and receive messages direct to and from the Bacolod base station. This system is owned and managed by the local government and can be availed of by the general public. SSB radio supplied by the provincial government interlinks all municipalities of the province.Barangays communicate either by 2-way radios or cellular phones where signal is available.

The deficiency in telephone landline services is compensated for by the SMART and GLOBE cellular telephone service, that provides for a more personal but also a more expensive telecommunications are service. SMART has already 3 cell sites in the city while Globe is in the processes of adding more sites to augment its present one.

The City is also serviced by satellite cable network and internet connection via VSAT and SMART . A TV relay station fed via satellite under the GMA television network provides connection to television. AM and FM radio signals are also moderately audible in the City. There are no internet cafes yet in the area.

Postal services are provided by the Philippine Postal Corporation in the Poblacion with sub-post offices in San Jose and Nabulao. Telegraph services are available via RCPI and PT&T at Barangay San Jose.

 

Domestic Water Supply

Sipalay City is provided with three levels of water service. Level 1 and 2 systems are mostly derived from shallow and deep wells, supplemented by a few natural springs. The urban barangays are served by a Level 3 system managed by the Local Water District. Barangays Gil Montilla and Nauhang are serviced by the Gil Montilla Waterworks System (under ARSP) and a similar system is found in Manlucahoc. MMC has also established a water system servicing San Jose (mine site). Current estimates indicate that about 20 percent of the total population has access to potable drinking water.

Access to drinking water is rather difficult for many because of the absence of piped water systems and the fluctuating supply particularly during the summer months in some barangays. There are also concerns about the potability and safety of water sources as the possibility of contamination may not be farfetched. It should be noted that given the highly mineralized nature of Sipalay's landscape, the mining operation and associated mine tailings as well as regular occurrence of flooding in low lying areas predispose the ground and spring water sources not only to bacteriological but also heavy metals contamination, which would have mild to serious implications on the health of the populace. Only the Sipalay water district regularly checks the quality of its water supply. Despite this, there are concerns about potability probably because of the water's odor. It was estimated that only about 20 percent (Barangay Development Plan) of the total population has access to potable drinking water.