City Engineer Vic Navarro said construction activities for the three-storey building, which will have a total of 34 classrooms, will commence in April. The new building will be constructed on a one-hectare lot in Barangay Bayanan and will become an extension of the Bayanan Elementary School.
"We came out with such a plan because of the growing number of pupils, especially at the Bayanan Elementary School. We have noticed that classrooms there are getting crowded with students and that there is no more space for extra students," Navarro said.
This developed after the city government purchased a 2.7-hectare property in Barangay Bayanan last year.
Local officials have targeted the site as an area where an additional school could be built together with additional government offices.
Navarro said the remaining 1.7-hectares, referred to as the "Baywalk area," will be devoted to the construction of other offices of the city government. These include the renewal house which intends to rehabilitate former drug users, the Sagip Foundation, which houses victims of domestic and sexual violence, and a haven for senior citizens.