DepEd still faces backlog of 166,000 classrooms

MANILA, Philippines —  Warning that the classroom crisis is no longer simply a matter of building more classrooms, the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) urged the Department of Education (DepEd) to prioritize classroom construction in the country’s most severely congested schools while keeping pace with aging infrastructure, disasters and longstanding governance bottlenecks.

During the Senate committee on basic education hearing, EDCOM 2 reported that, based on DepEd’s National School Building Inventory, the country still faces a backlog of more than 166,000 classrooms, contradicting the department’s earlier estimate that the shortage had dropped to 144,000.

The deficit, according to the commission, is expected to worsen as an estimated 51,222 classrooms will have reached more than 50 years of age by 2028 and are expected to require condemnation.

Citing a Philippine Institute for Development Studies study, EDCOM 2 also reported that 70 percent of public school buildings require major repair, retrofitting or condemnation, with some becoming structurally unsafe after barely a decade due to construction defects or substandard materials.

The commission added that successive natural disasters have further widened the classroom deficit. It noted that the October 2025 Cebu earthquake damaged nearly 10,000 classrooms, while the magnitude 7.8 Sarangani earthquake on the opening day of School Year 2026-2027 damaged another 12,493 classrooms across five regions and 39 school divisions.

“In less than one year alone, recent earthquakes have damaged more than 22,500 classrooms, further widening an already severe national classroom shortage,” EDCOM 2 noted.

Aside from disasters, the shortage is also aggravated by fragmented planning and unresolved governance issues.

EDCOM 2 Executive Director Karol Mark Yee said there are 58 National Housing Authority housing projects nationwide without planned school facilities, representing at least 167,120 completed housing units.

“EDCOM has been urging DHSUD and DepEd since 2024 to work together and urgently address the challenges faced by hundreds of thousands of students who, since June, have been in schools without enough classrooms. Areas with the highest congestion are also where bullying is most prevalent and violence is most likely, making this not only a learning issue, but a safety issue,” Yee said, referring to the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development.

To help with classroom construction, the Department of Public Works and Highways vowed to work with the DepEd and help address the country’s classroom shortage and improve learning conditions for students.

According to the agency, it is on track to complete the construction of more than 5,000 classrooms this year.

DPWH Undersecretary Lara Marisse Esquibil reported that civil works for 2,100 classrooms had been completed as of July 15, while construction of another 2,900 classrooms is ongoing.

Laws signed

As the government moves to address gaps in education infrastructure, President Marcos has signed into law Republic Act 12321, or the Last Mile and GIDA Schools Act, which institutionalizes support for public basic education schools in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas.

“The Last Mile and GIDA Schools Program is hereby institutionalized under the administration of the DepEd to address gaps in resources, facilities and other essential education inputs in schools and communities that have not met standard allocation criteria, particularly in the GIDAs,” the law, signed by Marcos on July 22, stated.

The law requires DepEd to develop and publish within one year a National Last Mile and GIDA Schools Map to serve as the basis for planning, resource allocation and program implementation, and to update it at least once every three years.

It also seeks to ensure that students have access to a basic education school within a walkable distance of three kilometers from their residence.

The measure tasks the DPWH with constructing access roads leading to Last Mile and GIDA schools, while the Department of Energy, National Electrification Administration and Department of Information and Communications Technology are mandated to provide electricity and internet connectivity.

It also provides comprehensive support for teachers and non-teaching personnel assigned to these schools. –  Emmanuel Tupas, Helen Flores