• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The newly-established Negros Island Region (NIR) faces a shortage of 6,298 classrooms and needs 877 new teachers, which is being attributed by the Department of Education (DepEd) to the growing student population.
“Every year, there is an increase in the need for classrooms and teachers,” DepEd-NIR spokesperson Almyr Caesar Dequiña said.
Learners enrolled in NIR for school year 2025-2026 reached more than 1.295 million, DepEd records indicated.
Dequiña said the DepEd is finding a way to address the lack of classrooms as he also lauded the school heads, teachers, and other stakeholders for finding solutions by converting available spaces in the classrooms or other open spaces, and shifting of schedule of classes.
“We are doing everything we can to address the problem,” he said.
As to the 877 teachers needed, Dequiña said it is relatively small compared to other regions in the country.
“But we are fast tracking the hiring,” he added.
Education Secretary Sonny Angara has admitted that the deficit in the number of classrooms has been growing
“That is a factor of population growth,” Angara said.
To address the gap, Angara said the DepEd is working to revive the Public-Private Partnership program, which had previously facilitated the construction of 12,000 to 15,000 classrooms.
Under this arrangement, classrooms would be built promptly, with payments spread over 10 years. | GB
