October 31, 2025 | 10:51am
MANILA, Philippines — Burdened with a classroom shortage that numbers in the thousands, the Department of Education is now turning to unused buildings in private schools that have closed down to ease overcrowding in public schools.
Education Secretary Sonny Angara said on Thursday, October 30, that the department is working with property developers and other government agencies to identify campuses that can be leased and converted into temporary classrooms. The plan, still in its pilot phase, is part of DepEd’s search for faster, cheaper ways to address one of the country’s most persistent education shortages.
“We need to think creatively if we want to move fast,” Angara said in a statement on Thursday. “Kung may mga paaralan at gusaling nakatengga at maaari namang magamit, buksan natin ito para sa mga kabataang nangangailangan ngayon.”
Stopgap measure
DepEd’s classroom backlog currently stands at an estimated 148,000, based on the latest data shared by the department.
On Thursday, DepEd Undersecretary for Strategic Management Ronald Mendoza said leasing idle campuses could deliver classrooms within six months — compared with the two to three years typically required to build new ones.
“Instead of waiting 2 to 3 years for classrooms to be built, we’re looking at existing structures that can be adapted within six months for our learners’ needs,” Mendoza said.
Among the first sites under study is a 1,385-square-meter property in Laguna that once housed the Rainbow Institute of Learning, which closed in 2020.
The campus has seven classrooms, a cafeteria, and a covered court, and sits about two kilometers from Don Manuel Rivera Memorial Integrated National High School, which is short by 22 classrooms to accommodate its current enrollees.
Market-scoping activity
DepEd said it recently gathered property developers, government engineers, and real estate associations for a market-scoping activity in Makati City. The meeting, held with the Student First Coalition, sought to determine whether classroom leasing could be scaled up nationwide.
Among the participants were major real estate firms Colliers, Leechiu, Jones Lang LaSalle, Santos Knight Frank and the Lobien Realty Group, as well as the Departments of Human Settlements and Local Government and the Bases Conversion and Development Authority.
Also present were the Department of Interior and Local Government and the Armed Forces of the Philippines Corps of Engineers.
“The market scoping featured the presentation of DepEd’s Standard Classroom Specifications, classroom needs, and the details of its Leasing Pilot Program, followed by an open forum with the private sector,” DepEd said.