The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
The Department of Education (DepEd) has ordered an audit of its school building projects with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) after finding that around 1,000 classrooms nationwide remain incomplete.
Education Secretary Sonny Angara said some of these projects had already been turned over, despite lacking basic requirements such as paint and electricity. “They’re not ghost projects, but unfinished ones that need to be completed,” he explained in a radio interview.
DepEd has directed all regional and division offices to submit validated reports on the incomplete facilities within 15 working days, with engineers tasked to coordinate directly with DPWH to reconcile project records.
Angara warned that without reforms, the classroom shortage—currently at 165,000 nationwide—will continue to grow. At DPWH’s present pace, only about 4,000 classrooms are expected to be built each year.
He also pushed for greater involvement of local government units in school construction to speed up the reduction of the backlog.