Gov't releases fund to address 'acute classroom shortage'

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The government has released $775.5 million (about $17.23 million) to construct classrooms in places experiencing "acute classroom shortage" nationwide, a senior government official said on Thursday.

The government defines "areas experiencing acute classroom shortage" as places where the classroom-to-students ratio is 1:50 or where classrooms are temporary in nature, makeshift, or non- existent.

Of the 775.5 million pesos, P764.4 million (about $16.99 million) is distributed across 16 regions while the remaining goes to the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), Department of Budget and Management Secretary Florencio Abad said.

"Although we've closed the classroom gap based on our 2010 backlog target, we acknowledge that there is more work to be done. We're rebuilding classrooms in the wake of recent calamities even as we take into account the rising number of students each year," he said.

The top three regions with the highest allocations are the National Capital Region (NCR) with $124.6 million (about $2.77 million), followed closely by Northern Mindanao ( Region X) with P104.7 million (about $2.33 million) and Central Visayas (Region VII) with P70 million (about $1.56 million).