ILOILO — Western Visayas is in the grip of a classroom crunch, with the Department of Education (DepEd) reporting a shortage of 6,437 classrooms — forcing some public school teachers to hold classes in covered courts, makeshift rooms, and through shifting schedules just to keep learning going.
The Regional Classroom Master Plan showed the province of Antique leading with a deficit of 2,372 classrooms, followed by Iloilo province with 1,844, Iloilo City with 482, Capiz with 465, Aklan with 437, Guimaras with 434, Roxas City with 311, and Passi City with 92.
“This backlog translates to overcrowded classrooms, shifting schedules, and diminished learning opportunities for our students,” warned Sen. Loren Legarda during budget deliberations.
ROOT CAUSE: FUNDING BOTTLENECKS
DepEd Region 6 officials said the shortage persists because of limited budgets and slow fund releases.
Classroom proposals pile up every year, but only a fraction gets funded, pushing the rest into the next year and compounding the crisis.
“Division Engineers are proposing every year for new construction of school buildings. However, only few percentages of the proposal are getting funds,” explained DepEd-6 information officer Hernani Escullar Jr.
He added: “With the said situation, the supposed new proposal for the current year will be carried over to the next year and same case will happen for the succeeding years based on the yearly allocation for the school building projects.”
STOPGAP MEASURES: MAKESHIFT SOLUTIONS
With no choice, schools are improvising. Some have dipped into their Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) to build temporary structures. Others are converting covered courts and multipurpose spaces into classrooms.
Still others resort to shifting class schedules and distance learning to accommodate students.
“It is concerning, but the schools are doing necessary adjustments and the region continuously reports and coordinate this to the Central Office for funding,” Escullar added.
NATIONAL AND LOCAL ACTION
Legarda, while expressing alarm over the national backlog of 165,000 classrooms, praised Education Secretary Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara for pushing public-private partnerships and involving LGUs in classroom construction. DepEd has already asked the Department of Budget and Management for flexibility in accelerating these initiatives.
“These are clear indications that DepEd is not standing still but actively laying the groundwork for sustainable solutions to this persistent challenge,” Legarda said.
In Iloilo, Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. announced that P600 million from the Special Education Fund has been earmarked for the construction and repair of classrooms.
“This 468 (classrooms) is doable. We want to ensure that we are spending this money effectively rather than saving it for the end of the fiscal year,” he stressed at the Provincial Education Summit last month.
According to DepEd-Iloilo, 468 classrooms require urgent construction while 7,279 need major repairs.
Defensor said the province’s strategy focuses on building, rehabilitating, and equipping schools to provide safe learning spaces.
CALL FOR URGENT RESPONSE
DepEd-6 officials underscored that without decisive action, the classroom shortage problem will continue to worsen as enrollment grows. The region, they said, is maintaining constant coordination with the Central Office to secure more funding.
Legarda echoed this urgency: “This backlog translates to overcrowded classrooms, shifting schedules, and diminished learning opportunities for our students.”/PN
