Government turns over 1,000 classrooms

MANILA, Philippines - The government has turned over 1,000 classrooms to various resettlement areas in the country, the Department of Education said on Thursday.

DepEd Secretary Armin Luistro said the classrooms --total of 76 school buildings -- were constructed in 40 different areas allotted by the National Housing Authority in Regions 3, 4-A, and the National Capital Region since 2010 up to the present.

"Nagagawa pong tugunan ng DepEd ang problema ng congestion sa NCR dahil sa mga resettlement projects ng NHA," he said.

He added that building classrooms for the Filipino students is a shared responsibility among DepEd and education partners from other government agencies, private sector, and non-government organizations.

“Ang pagtatayo po ng bahay at ng mga paaralan na maipagmamalaki ay isang rebolusyon na sama-sama nating pagtutulungan,” Luistro said.

Under Executive Order 90, the NHA is mandated to undertake programs for the improvement of blighted urban areas and provide housing assistance to the lowest 30 percent of urban income-earners through slum upgrading, illegal settler relocation, development of sites and services, and construction of housing units.

Of the 1,000 classrooms, 637 will be signed into the Deed of Transfer and Acceptance (DOTA) as the 363 classrooms have  been turned over to DepEd's division offices.