Pagcor builds 40 classrooms for 2 Marikina schools

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) and the Department of Education (DepEd) have started building a four-story, 20-classroom building for each of two public schools in Marikina City.

Sta. Elena High School (SEHS) has close to 4,000 students yet has only 39 functional classrooms while the Concepcion Integrated School (CIS) has more than 2,300 high school students using only 20 classrooms. The schools hold classes in several shifts to accommodate all the students.

PAGCOR chairman and CEO Cristino Naguiat Jr. emphasized the agency’s strong commitment to support the country’s education sector by building thousands of classrooms nationwide.

Pagcor allocated over P40 million for the construction of each building.

SEHS principal Alberto Villamor said many students want to enroll at SEHS since it is one of the best performing and biggest public schools in Marikina. He said around 1,400 students intend to enroll when classes open in June.

As for CIS, secondary school principal Jeffrey Trinidad said enrollees increase every year by five to 10 percent. He noted that the classroom backlog became worse when the school had to demolish seven of its dilapidated classrooms because they were no longer safe to use.