Pagcor to build 100 learning centers nationwide

MANILA, Philippines - At least 100 learning spaces will be available for use by school year 2012-2013 as the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) partnered recently with the Department of Education (DepEd) and Gawad Kalinga Foundation, Inc. to build literacy centers that will address the acute classroom shortage nationwide.

PAGCOR committed a funding support of P65 million for the construction of the learning structures, which formally commenced with the groundbreaking ceremony of the Sibol Kindergarten building at the Mariano L. Adriano Elementary School in Barangay Encanto, Angat, Bulacan.

Under an agreement signed by PAGCOR chairman Cristino Naguiat Jr., director Jose Tanjuatco, DepEd representative Odon Santiago and Gawad Kalinga executive director Jose Luis Oquiñena, the classrooms will be built in different communities around the country.

Naguiat said that the amount set aside by PAGCOR for the said project is part of the P1 billion funding allotted by the state gaming firm to construct 1,000 school buildings across the archipelago under its “Matuwid na Daan sa Silid-Aralan” project, adding that the project is in line with the government’s thrust to uplift the quality of education in the country.

Under the memorandum of agreement (MOA), Gawad Kalinga will be handling the construction of the classrooms, while DepEd and the respective local government units will manage the facilities once the structures have been completed.

According to Oquiñena, the additional learning centers seek to serve the educational needs of underserved preschool children and reduce the number of out-of-school youths. “The town of Angat, Bulacan, in particular, has a little over 60 children that have no classroom. We were worried that it may balloon to over 100 next year so we decided to build the very first of the 100 classrooms here with the approval of DepEd,” Oquiñena said.

Oquiñena added that the learning structures, each measuring 60 square meters in floor space, will also be utilized as literacy training centers for out-of-school youths who may be over-age to enter mainstream high school education. The classrooms will feature “green architecture,” which employs the use of extra roof spaces for natural lighting and air vents.