Education Secretary Sonny Angara on Wednesday said the department plans to resolve the current 165,000-classroom backlog in the country’s public school system through Public Private Partnership, with an initial target of constructing 15,000 classrooms by 2027.
Angara presented the plan to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. following the signing of the Technical Assistance Agreement with the PPP Center last month.
The initiative under the PPP School Infrastructure Project, according to Angara, will cost between P37.5 billion to P60 billion and benefit over 600,000 students nationwide.
It is also expected to generate at least 18,000 jobs.
“The classroom gap is a massive challenge, but we believe that leveraging private investments through PPP is the most efficient and sustainable way to address this,” Angara added.
The DepEd chief said they also have a roadmap for scaling up classroom construction to 30,000 and 60,000 from the planned 15,000 initial target.
Last year, Angara promised dramatic actions to address the classroom shortage in the country.
“If I recall correctly, the classroom backlog stood at about 159,000. The problem here is that the backlog grows by 12,000 every year because of the population increase, and we are only able to construct almost 2,000 classrooms every year,” Angara said last year upon assuming the post of DepEd chief.
“So, we need to do something dramatic here. I think we will study the said standard in the construction of classrooms,” he added.
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 every day.
Aside from addressing classroom shortage, Angara said the DepEd is also spearheading efforts to equip public schools with power and digital tools through PPP.
Envisioned to roll out by mid-2026, the plan includes providing electricity supply to un-energized schools, Low Earth Orbit Satellite Internet connectivity for unconnected schools, and tablets for learners and laptops for teachers.
“With a combination of strategic partnerships and digital investments, DepEd is committed to bridge both the classroom and digital divides to create a future-ready education system producing competitive and highly-employable graduates,” Angara said.
