CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—At least 1,017 additional classrooms will be built in Central Luzon for the next school year under Phase 2 of the Public-Private Partnership for School Infrastructure Project (PSIP) of the Department of Education (DepEd).
This will be on top of the 2,885 new classrooms that had been earlier completed in the region by Citicore-Megawide under Phase 1 with President Aquino witnessing the ceremonial turnover during his visit in the city of Malolos recently.
“PSIP is the first social infrastructure PPP project under the Aquino administration that aims to help address the shortage of over 60,000 classrooms nationwide,” said National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Regional Director Severino Santos, who is concurrently the and Regional Development Council Project Monitoring Committee (RPMC) chairman.
A report from the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) in Central Luzon said “Phase 1 involved the design, financing and construction of 7,144 classrooms in 12 provinces across Region 3 and 4A, with a 10-year lease period.”
The report also said the design for the classrooms sets them apart from the traditional, boxed-in types.
Load-bearing walls eliminate the need for wall posts, creating larger classroom spaces, while hallway and stairway areas were also given wider clearances, it added.
“The rooms benefit from maximized circulation of natural light and air and the chalkboards are especially curved so that students can better read the notes from all areas of the classroom.”
Megawide was also awarded Phase 2 of PSIP, which covers the regions of Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Central Northern Mindanao and Caraga.
“Of the seven provinces [in Central Luzon], Bulacan has the most in Phase 2 with 574 classrooms followed by Nueva Ecija (144), Pampanga (121), Bataan (75), Zambales (64), Tarlac (24) and Aurora (15),” Santos said.
In a report submitted to the RPMC, DepEd said as of March 2015, a total of 193 classrooms in 66 buildings have been completed.
The construction of additional classrooms are ongoing and are due to be finished in time for the school opening in June, the PIA-3 report said.