Saturday, May 16, 2009

DepEd allocates P3.2B for construction of new schools

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The Department of Education (DepEd) has earmarked some P3.2 billion for the construction of new schools and repair dilapidated classrooms as well as put water facilities in all schools across the country.

Education Secretary Jesli Lapus said of the total amount, some P1.6 billion had been allocated for the construction of school buildings in ares experiencing acute classroom shortage while the other P1.6 billion was earmarked for rehabilitation of school buildings and water and sanitation facilities.

He said 1,908 new classrooms, 6,322 new toilet, 2,513 repairs of existing classrooms and 194 repairs of toilets are targeted for completion under its 2009 School Building Program before the school opening in June.

"This is an important undertaking of the government that will benefit many sectors. It will fill the gap in classroom shortage and at the same time help pump up the economy by employing many people in the building and construction business," said Lapus.

He said that new buildings will also be constructed in Southern Philippines under the Support to Philippine Education Reform (SPHERE) Projects.

Statistics from the DepEd Physical Facilities and School's Engineering Division (PFSED) showed that requirement for classrooms for 2009 Based on 1:45 double shift is 7,087. of the figure, 3,785 classrooms are for elementary and 3,302 for high schools.

The top five areas with acute classrooms shortage are the National Capital Region (NCR), Region 4a, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), Region 7 and Region 9, according to the latest PFSED report.

In 2008, the DepEd was require to build at least 6,549 classrooms - 3,417 for elementary and 3,125 for secondary schools.

In terms of water and sanitation facilities, PFSED documented a total of 80,042 shortage in toilet bowls and 136, 252 urinals in 16 regions across the country. Region 5 tops in toilet bowl shortage with 8,189 while Region 4A ranks first urinal shortage with 15,504.

Engr. Oliver Hermandez, PFSED chief, admitted the allocation is still not large enough to cover the backlog in classrooms, toilets and other facilities.

He added that the DepEd would need at least P50 billion to address such concerns.

Aside from the DepEd budget allocation, Hernandez disclosed that another P2 billion has been allotted by the Department of Public Works and Highway (DPWH) for the construction of buildings.

The amount is part of DPWH's regular allocation under the Roxas Law, he added.

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