MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Education and the Department of Public Works and Highways have signed a memorandum of agreement to intensify the construction and upgrading of school facilities to address the chronic classroom shortage in the country.
The signing was led by Education Secretary Sonny Angara and Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon at the DepEd Central Office in Makati City on Thursday.
The agreement will establish a unified framework for the planning, design, and construction of basic education facilities nationwide, and aims to address the current classroom shortage of over 144,000 units
In his message, Angra said that due to the clear directives of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to strengthen education, they are hastening the building of quality classrooms.
"We’re aiming to quickly fix the shortages and make sure every student has a safe space. We’ve also strengthened the teamwork between DepEd and DPWH. We’re making sure each project gets done fast, smoothly, and really focuses on what schools actually need," Angara said.
“It's a testament, I think, to what the President has instructed Sec. Sonny and I to do, which is really to act fast. 'Yon naman ang objective naman nating lahat dito. Bilisan natin (This is our objective, let's do it fast)," Dizon added.
The MoA construction, replacement, repair, and rehabilitation of school buildings from kindergarten to senior high school. This includes technical vocational laboratories, facilities in Last Mile Schools, and Learning Continuity Spaces (LCS).
DepEd’s responsibilities under the agreement include providing the school infrastructure master list by the end of May 2026 to identify priority schools, ensuring site readiness, and securing necessary environmental clearances.
Meanwhile, DPWH will manage all bidding and construction activities, conduct joint site validations, and ensure all buildings are fully functional and safe, including rectifying any non-conformities reported by DepEd.
Angara said that the classroom construction program is only one of the measures being done by DepEd to resolve the ongoing education crisis, but he said that the program will not address the issues in a few years.
"It will really take several years, so this won't just be a problem of the Marcos administration, it would be a problem of the next administration. So hopefully the next administration will be as committed as this administration," Angara said.
