The Second Congressional Commission on Education warns that the country’s classroom shortage is facing a dual crisis of classroom construction and the deteriorating existing school facilities that will also need replacement, with around 51,000 aging classrooms projected to be condemned by 2028.
Citing data from the Department of Education, EDCOM 2 said that of the 329,716 school buildings nationwide, about 122,518 classrooms have already exceeded the 25-year design life.
“Within this aging inventory, 51,222 classrooms are projected to be condemned by 2028 once they reach 50 years of age. This looming replacement challenge threatens to compound the existing shortage, as thousands of structures face inevitable condemnation due to wear, tear, and exposure to natural disasters,” EDCOM 2 said.
It added that a study by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) fellow Michael Abrigo supports the projections and underscores the need for a long-term, risk-informed school infrastructure plan.
EDCOM 2 recommended diversifying construction modalities beyond the traditional procurement process of the Department of Public Works and Highways, including tapping local government units, and expanding public private partnerships.
The DepEd has already initiated several approaches to reduce the backlog, including partnerships with LGUs and the revitalization of PPP deals as it targets the construction of 26,000 classrooms in 2026. It also aims to deliver more than 16,000 classrooms under a “build now, pay later” scheme to ensure completion before payment, as well as roll out a classroom leasing initiative in partnership with LGUs and private groups as a stopgap measure to ease congestion in overcrowded public schools.
The country’s classroom shortage is proving to be a formidable challenge for the government, whose apathy and inaction could be considered as a root cause of the problem it is desperately trying to undo today. The lack of classrooms, along with the steady deterioration of the aging ones, natural disasters, along with population growth, ensures that the DepEd will be catching up for years.
Hopefully the officials responsible for reversing the trend have the determination and tenacity to do what it takes, so unlike so many of the country’s classrooms, the future of our nation’s youth is saved from being condemned as well.*
