The Department of Education (DepEd) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) on Thursday pledged to begin construction of 20,000 classrooms this year to address the nationwide backlog of over 144,000.
This comes after the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) between the agencies to streamline the implementation of the Basic Education Facilities Program (BEFP).
“The goal this year is 20,000 classrooms, so as long as we are near our goal, we could say that it’s been a historic year in terms of improvement,” Education Secretary Juan Edgardo “Sonny” M. Angara told reporters in a briefing.
“It’s a 2-year horizon, so between funding release and construction and completion, you’re talking about 2 years,” he added.
Under the agreement, DepEd will “provide a school infrastructure master list by the end of May to identify priority schools, ensuring site readiness, and securing necessary environmental clearances.”
Meanwhile, the DPWH will “manage all bidding and construction activities, conduct joint site validations, and ensure all buildings are fully functional and safe, including rectifying any non-conformities reported by DepEd.”
According to Public Works Secretary Vivencio “Vince” B. Dizon, the 5,000 classrooms targeted this year will undergo DPWH’s new procurement process through livestreaming and a transparency portal.
“We’re doing everything that we can to maintain transparency and ensure that the previous wrongdoings within the DPWH won’t happen again,” he told reporters in Filipino during the same briefing.
He added that the 4,000 classrooms for 2025 will be finished in September this year. The DPWH previously reported completion of only 22 classrooms in October last year.
“Right now, we have 3,000 ongoing constructions. Of which, 2,500 will be completed by June, and the remainder will be finished by September,” he said.
The Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM II) warned in February that the backlog could further widen due to 122,518 aging school buildings and the expected condemnation of over 51,000 classrooms by 2028.
“It will take a 10-year sustained spending program to really address not only the classroom shortage but also the other systemic problems in education,” Mr. Angara said.
“This is not the problem of Marcos’ administration alone. This will also be a problem for the next administration, so hopefully the next administration will be as committed as this one to addressing the problems in education,” he added. — Almira Louise S. Martinez
