Land shortage complicates classroom-building drive — Angara

The lack of available land is emerging as another obstacle to the government’s efforts to build classrooms, with Education Secretary Sonny Angara saying fewer land donations and rising property prices are making it harder to secure sites for new school buildings.

Angara said the Department of Education (DepEd) has encountered difficulties finding buildable land even as it ramps up infrastructure spending and shifts more classroom construction work to local government units (LGUs).

“Ang problema is kawalan ng buildable space,” Angara said in an interview Thursday, explaining why classroom construction can be difficult even when funding is available.

“Anong ibig sabihin? Yung lupa para matayuan ng mga classrooms,” he added.

Angara said land donations that previously helped provide school sites, particularly in the provinces, have become less common.

Some local government units (LGUs), however, have begun acquiring properties in advance to reserve land for schools and other public facilities.

“Before maraming nagdonate ng lupa sa probinsya, lalo ngayon wala masyadong nagdonate sa atin ngayon. Although in fairness, some local government units invest in land banking,” he said.

He explained that local governments acquire properties before prices increase to build a pool of land they can use for schools and other government buildings.

The Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2), in a 20 October analysis, found that only 45.2% of the 332 LGUs with the largest estimated classroom shortages were among the top recipients of planned classroom allocations for 2026.

EDCOM 2 also found that 30 of the country’s 66 fifth-class municipalities received no classroom allocation despite a combined deficit of 356 classrooms.

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