Angara opens 48 classrooms in Albay

GUINOBATAN, Albay — Education Secretary Sonny Angara on Thursday inaugurated and turned over 48 new classrooms at the Marcial O. Rañola Memorial School here, a project initiated by the Ako Bicol party-list.

The new classrooms are expected to help ease the shortage of classrooms at the school, which has 6,977 students.

Angara said the construction of more classrooms was a priority of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to ensure that learners have access to quality education, with funds already downloaded to the Department of Education (DepEd). 

READ: DepEd eyes the construction of over 2,000 classrooms with LGUs’ help

“School feeding is also a priority because we need to address the problem of undernourished, wasted, and severely wasted learners,” Angara said.

School principal Alicia Lim said the school was waiting for chairs to be delivered before the new classrooms could be fully utilized.

She said the additional classrooms would allow the school to shift from a three-shift arrangement to regular classes and help decongest classrooms, which currently accommodate an average of 60 students.

DepEd Bicol Regional Director Gilbert Sadsad said the new classrooms would partially address the shortage.

“We are positive that more classrooms will be built to accommodate more students, as about 10,000 classrooms are still needed in the Bicol region,” Sadsad said.

Angara was joined by Ako Bicol Rep. Alfredo Garbin Jr., Albay 3rd District Rep. Adrian Salceda, and local government and school officials during the inauguration./coa