TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan – Senator Win Gatchalian has proposed that local government units (LGUs) must be given the task of constructing more classrooms to efficiently address the shortage nationwide.
Gatchalian said that it should be a shared responsibility between the Department of Education (DepEd) and LGUs which both will be providing 50 percent each to address the classroom shortage.
However, the senator pointed out that the LGUs must construct the classrooms in a simultaneous manner.
As Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Gatchalian gave emphasis that the building of classrooms is a perennial problem.
Citing figures from the DepEd, Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman said that as of December 31, 2021, only 191 classrooms were constructed and there are around 15,000 on-going constructions of classrooms, some of which date all the way from 2014.
The budget chief added that for 2021, the Department of Public Works and Highways’ (DPWH) obligation rate for the construction of school buildings was 92% but the disbursement rate was only at 45%.
The DPWH is tasked with the construction of school buildings.
The senator shared his thoughts that the concept there, is to decentralize the construction because the construction part is the bottleneck.
P5.9 billion is allocated under the national expenditure program of the government for the construction, replacement, and completion of kindergarten, elementary, and secondary school buildings as well as technical vocational laboratories.
The amount will also cover the construction of water and sanitation facilities. TNF