EDUCATION Secretary Sonny Angara yesterday said he is eyeing Public-Private Partnerships and Adopt-a-School Program to address the perennial problem of classroom shortage in the country’s public schools.
Angara made the remarks in a dialogue with school heads and teachers of La Paz, Tarlac where he emphasized his priorities as DepEd chief to construct new school buildings, establish new classrooms, and provide digital devices to both learners and teachers.
Angara said the department is exploring PPP as a key solution to address the perennial problem of classroom backlogs.
“Ang tinutulak natin ngayon is mag-PPP tayo, public-private partnerships. Ibig sabihin, malakihan, bulto-bulto, 1,000 classrooms. Magpapa-bid tayo ng isang libong school buildings at i-o-offer natin sa private sector na magko-construct (What we are pushing now is we go for PPP, public-private partnerships. It means we will have a bid for 1,000 classrooms, 1,000 school buildings at a time and we will offer it to the private sector for construction),” Angara said.
With limited resources and a protracted classroom shortage, the DepEd chief likewise called for increased awareness of the Adopt-A-School Program, underscoring the law’s tax benefits to the adopting company or enterprise.
“Many businessmen or charitable organizations may not know this, so let them know that if they donate a school building, it can be deducted from their taxable income,” he said. “Many do not know that there is a law about this. So with the help of the community, I hope we can inform them.”
Last October, Angara appealed to the private sector for help to solve the crisis in basic education when he spoke before the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines.
He said that even if DepEd is running on a budget of more than P700 billion, it is still insufficient to address critical shortages since most of the funding goes to pay the salaries and allowances of public school teachers nationwide.
The DepEd previously said the classroom shortage stands at around 159,000 nationwide.
During the Senate hearing on the DepEd budget for 2024, the department said it would need at least P397 billion to address the current classroom backlogs. Each classroom cost around P2 million.
The classroom shortage led some schools in highly-congested areas in Metro Manila, Cebu City and parts of Calabarzon to implement three shifts of classes daily.
Angara also said the DepEd, under his watch, will prioritize digital technology to enhance learning opportunities and introduce innovations for learners and teachers.
The latest data showed the department only has one computer for every 30 teachers nationwide while the student-to-computer ratio is at 1:9.
With the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2025 tests coming up, Angara also encouraged education officials to intensify preparations through practice tests, with a focus on nurturing learners’ critical thinking, problem-solving, and analytical skills.
Filipino students have lagged behind their counterparts in previous PISA tests.
Apart from the dialogue with public school teachers, Angara also inaugurated the Tarlac State University’s extended building that was funded in 2023 when he was still a senator.
The building was named after his late father, Senate President Edgardo Angara.
