THE Department of Education yesterday secured a land titling partnership with the Land Registration Authority to accelerate school building construction in the country.
Education Secretary Sonny Angara said the partnership with LRA will help address long-standing issues with untitled properties that often hinder the infrastructure projects of the department.
He said it aims to convert manually issued land titles under DepEd into electronic titles, adding that through this the department would be able to eliminate bureaucratic delays and ensure that schools can be built on legally secured properties.
“Nakikita natin (We can see) that the lack of title signifies lack of security or (lack of) a secured future because dito nade-delay ang pag-construct ng panibagong classrooms,” Angara said during the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement with LRA Administrator Gerardo Panga Sirios.
“Mahalaga at makasaysayan ang araw na ito, especially sa DepEd. Ang lupa o titulo ng isang eskwelahan, ‘yan ang puso ng komunidad dahil hindi lang diyan nag-aaral ang mga bata, diyan din nagtitipon-tipon ang barangay council, at ang komunidad (This is an important and historic day, especially for DepEd. The lot or title where a school is built is the heart of the community since it is not only used by our learners but also by the barangay council and the community),” he added.
Sirios also underscored the partnership’s importance in safeguarding assets for future generations.
“This event will help not only the Department of Education in securing its assets but also securing the future of our youth because with these assets, this is where schools will be located, and with the schools, we can provide quality education to our youth,” the LRA chief said.
Earlier, Angara said DepEd is eyeing a Public-Private Partnership and Adopt-a-School program to address the perennial problem of classroom shortage in the country’s public schools.
The DepEd previously said the classroom shortage stood 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 backlog. 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 every day.
