BUDGET Secretary Amenah Pangandaman has approved the release of P15.1 billion for the construction of 4,912 classrooms in 1,194 sites in the country.
In a statement, Pangandaman said the “timely” release of the fund showed that the Marcos administration does not hold back on investing in education.
The fund was a joint request of the Department of Public Works and Highway and the Department of Education.
Pangandaman said the government needs to build and repair classrooms to cope with increasing enrollment in public schools nationwide.
Early on, Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte cited classroom shortage as the most urgent education issue and has committed to addressing the backlog in school infrastructure.
Pangandaman underscored that schoolchildren need to be in an environment conducive to fun and learning.
“They need safe and clean classrooms so that they can study very well. They are our best investment,” the secretary said, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., in his budget message earlier, vowed to prioritize the construction of new classrooms under DepEd’s Basic Education Facilities (BEF) as face-to-face classes resumed.
The allocation included the construction, replacement and completion of kindergarten, elementary and secondary schools, as well as technical vocational laboratories, installation or replacement of disability access facilities, construction of water and sanitation facilities; and site improvement.
On the other hand, P131.4 million will be used for engineering and administrative overhead expenses.
This includes the hiring of workers, conduct of preliminary and detailed engineering activities, pre-construction preparations, construction management; testing and quality control; acquisition, rehabilitation and repair of related equipment and parts; training, communication, per diem, and transportation expenses; and contingencies related to pre-construction activities.
Earlier, DepEd Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III said the country needed an annual budget of P100 billion to resolve the classroom shortage by 2030.
Toward this end, Densing said the DepEd was looking for fund sources other than the national treasury.