Senator Win Gatchalian is planning to file a bill that will allow school buildings to have more than four floors to help address classroom shortages nationwide.
Gatchalian, chairperson of the Senate Basic Education committee, said there is a regulation that classrooms are only allowed in buildings up to four stories high.
He acknowledged it would be very difficult for students to go up more than four floors for their classrooms.
“But if you can put elevators, if we put other equipment to easily bring students up to the fifth and sixth floors, we can conserve land,” Gatchalian said.
With higher buildings, especially in urban areas, Gatchalian said the government can build more classrooms.
While classrooms in the provinces and rural areas would have as few as 20 to 30 learners, Gatchalian cited the perennial problem of overcrowded classrooms in urban areas.
He said one classroom would have as many as 50 to 60 learners.
Furthermore, the senator stressed it is a challenge for the government to build classrooms in urban areas because of the price of land.
In contrast, land is abundant in rural areas where additional classrooms can be put up, he added.
The shortage of classrooms was emphasized when classes opened for School Year 2022-2023, which marked the return to face-to-face classes for many of the 28.7 million learners enrolled nationwide. All public and private schools are expected to implement face-to-face classes five days a week starting November.
Meanwhile, the Department of Education is eyeing a budget of P86.5 billion for the construction of classrooms for 2023.