Region 4-A or Calabarzon faces the country’s most severe classroom shortage, with 31,002 classrooms needed, the Department of Education (DepEd) revealed during a forum in Makati City.
DepEd Undersecretary for Strategic Management Ronald Mendoza said the deficit has continued to widen over time, largely driven by rapid population growth. The National Capital Region followed with 24,847 missing classrooms, while the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) ranked third with 13,237.
Within Calabarzon, Cavite leads with 8,832 classrooms needed, followed by Rizal with 8,516 and Laguna with 7,589. Luzon accounts for more than half—54 percent—of the nationwide classroom shortage, which has reached 165,443.
Other regions with significant gaps include Region 3 (13,119), Region 7 (10,857), Region 10 (10,333), Region 11 (8,532), Region 12 (8,281), Region 5 (7,415), and Region 9 (6,653).
To address the growing crisis, DepEd is eyeing the construction of 105,000 classrooms between 2026 and 2031 under a public-private partnership (PPP) scheme.
“Under the public-private modality for classroom construction, we have a first wave of at least 15,000 PPP classrooms costing roughly ₱60 billion, followed by waves of 40,000 and 50,000 PPP-built classrooms,” Mendoza said.
Beyond PPP efforts, DepEd also aims to build 12,000 classrooms directly, secure 4,500 through donations, implement 3,000 via negotiated procurement, provide 2,500 through a voucher system, and lease 1,500 additional learning spaces.
