Gatchalian eyes bill to allow construction of classrooms in higher school buildings

FILE PHOTO: Senator Win Gatchalian. Voltaire F. Domingo / Senate PRIB

MANILA, Philippines — In a bid to meet a shortage of 243,000 classrooms nationwide, Senator Win Gatchalian is considering filing a bill that will allow school buildings to have more than four floors.

Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate committee on basic education, noted there is a regulation that classrooms are only allowed in buildings up to four-story high.

“We’re actually studying to file a bill to allow the construction of classrooms in buildings more than four stories high. There’s a regulation that classrooms are only allowed in buildings up to four stories high because it’s very difficult for students to go up more than that,” the lawmaker said in a statement.

“But if you can put elevators, if we put other equipment to easily bring students up to the fifth and sixth floors, we can conserve land and we can build more, especially in urban areas,” Gatchalian pointed out.

The senator said the overcrowded classrooms persist in urban areas, where one classroom would have as many as 50 to 60 learners.

The senator also emphasized the challenge for the government to build classrooms in urban areas because of the price of land.

The Department of Education has previously proposed the construction of medium to high-rise school buildings in urbanized areas where there is a dense population but limited land areas for development.

READ: DepEd eyes taller school buildings

The School Year 2022-2023 started on Monday, August 22, but not without reports of inadequate quantity of chairs and desks in some schools.

KGA