The country has a backlog of about 165,000 classrooms.
On Thursday, November 20, the Department of Education (DepEd) held the first-ever Classroom Summit to discuss the shortage in rooms around the country, especially construction delays, and the strengthening ofbflexibility, innovation, transparency, accountability, and good governance in the education sector and infrastructure.
The said event was attended by government agencies and local government units, private contractors, and other partners.
According to Education Secretary Sonny Angara, the summit aims to end the cycle of delays and told, “We all know this is one of our more intractable problems at DepEd, and we’re hoping today’s activities will help provide clear solutions and ways forward.”
Launched durinh the Classroom Summit was the Strategic Resource Inventory for Deployment Efficiency (STRIDE) Dashboard, a platform integratijg enrollment, staffing, and infrastructure data.
This can be used by regional and division offices to identify where there is the construction ofbnew classrooms is needed the most using data mapping to guide planning.
Stengthening the planning and procurement readiness through wider connection with contractors, suppliers, and other partners was also discussed to align capacity with new innovations in the market.
In addition, the summit also served as a market scoping activity for the Education Department, in accordance with Republic Act No. 12009 (New Government Procurement Act).
Breakout sessions also included discussion forncontractor accreditation, climate-resilient designs, financing options, and contract implementation.
The standard DepEd classroom at isang disaster-ready temporary learning space for typhoon- and earthquake-hit areas were also displayed.
According to the Department of Education itself, the country is facing a shortage of 165,000 classrooms nationwide since 2022. It cited the non-centralized data collection and coordinayion as a reason for the slow pacing of works.
Hence, through the summit, attendees and stakeholders were able to review classroom prototypes, participate in technical sessions, amd discuss the capacity in construction for much effective rollout.