‘DepEd budget insufficient to address classroom shortage’

MANILA, Philippines — Education Secretary Sonny Angara has admitted that the Department of Education (DepEd) does not have enough funds to address the classroom shortage nationwide.

In an interview with reporters on the sidelines of the 50th Philippine Business Conference and Expo in Pasay City Tuesday, Angara admitted that he cannot give a timeline on the DepEd’s target to construct 165,000 classrooms in public schools nationwide to address the shortage, saying the agency is still looking for potential sources of funds.

“We are not sure because we are still fully developing our PPP (public-private partnership) proposals,” Angara said.

He said it is harder to attract investors for classroom construction as compared to investors for other infrastructure projects such as roads and bridges, which are seen as more profitable investments.

“What is clear to us right now is that we can’t do it under the General Appropriations Act (for 2025) and under our current budget,” Angara said.

Of the DepEd’s P793.17-billion recently approved budget for 2025, a huge chunk will be allocated to maintenance and other operating expenses of elementary and secondary schools (P49.76 billion); government assistance and subsidies (P40.51 billion) and creation of new school personnel positions (P34 billion).

Only P29.3 billion will be allocated for basic education facilities, which includes the construction of classrooms.

Meanwhile, Angara said DepEd is also looking into the possibility of allowing the use of artificial intelligence and even including lessons on its proper utilization under the MATATAG basic education curriculum.

In another development, Kabataan party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel yesterday rejected the proposal of the DepEd to exclude affluent students from the free college education program.

He said what needs to be done is to strengthen the public education system “rather than limiting beneficiaries.”

Meanwhile, the Department of Science and Technology has opened the application for the 2025 DOST-Science Education Institute (SEI) undergraduate scholarships.

The deadline for submission is on Nov. 22, with in-person pen and paper qualifying examination tentatively scheduled on April 5-6, 2025 at various test centers.

The Commission on Higher Education has urged higher education institutions in Australia to offer programs or set up schools in the country.