THE Department of Education (DepEd) rolled out a temporary leasing initiative to decongest public schools while classrooms are being built.
Education Secretary Sonny Angara led the launch in Pila, Laguna, on Monday.
“We are not setting the construction of new classrooms aside. Classroom construction is still ongoing nationwide. But while this is being done, we also need to think of practical and immediate solutions like classroom leasing so that the children and teachers will no longer wait a few years before there is a decent space to learn,” Angara said in Filipino and English.
The initiative “would complement long-term infrastructure programs, including traditional classroom building, public-private partnership projects, and other alternative delivery modalities,” the DepEd said in a statement.
Laguna was identified as a pilot site because of the province’s “large enrollment base and limited expansion space in several public schools.” “The leased facility is now serving as an annex of Don Manuel Rivera Memorial Integrated National High School, allowing Senior High School learners to transfer to a nearby site, easing congestion and allowing more comfortable learning conditions,” the DepEd said.
The initiative was “developed with local governments and private sector partners,” it said.
The initiative is part of the Marcos administration’s broader push “to close the country’s classroom gap through a mix of accelerated construction, partnerships with LGUs (local government units) and the private sector, and flexible, time-bound interventions aimed at protecting instructional time and improving learning conditions,” the DepEd said.
