Classroom leasing initiative eyed to ease school congestion

The Department of Education (DepEd) on Monday said its newly launched Classroom Leasing Initiative aims to ease school congestion amid a nationwide classroom gap.

“This is the first time in DepEd’s history that we were able to lease a private school, and this will not be the last time,” Education Secretary Edgardo M. Angara told reporters in an interview.

“I think it’s a medium-term solution meaning, in the next one to five years, it can be a good solution because we can’t solve the 165,000 until five to 10 years,” he added.

The Classroom Leasing initiative allows DepEd to occupy facilities of private schools that are not operational, including those that shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Leased classrooms will be refurbished and repurposed within a few months to serve as functional learning spaces.

“We found out that about 700 to 800 private schools shut down during the pandemic,” Mr. Angara said.

“If we can match it with the classroom shortage in public schools, we can lease it and we don’t have to wait for construction to finish,” he added.

The program was launched in Don Manuel Rivera Memorial Integrated High School in Pila, Laguna, where senior high school students undergo scheduled shifts due to congestion.

“Coincidentally, there’s a private school nearby that was closed so we leased it instead of waiting for a year while our students are cramped up,” he said.

The department said Laguna is the third most congested province nationwide. Despite the province’s high enrollment rate, limited expansion space is available in some public schools.

“Leasing provides a cost-efficient option in areas where land acquisition is difficult or where immediate relief is needed to prevent learner displacement while larger projects are still in the pipeline,” the department said in a statement.

Data from the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM II) showed that about 122,000 buildings are past their intended 25-year design lifespan.

By 2028, about 51,000 classrooms are expected to turn 50 years, which the commission warned could further worsen the current 165,000 classroom backlog. — Almira Louise S. Martinez