President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has directed government agencies to work with the private sector in accelerating the construction of public school classrooms in the Ilocos Region, according to a statement released by the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) on Saturday.
During a meeting with the Regional Development Council in Dagupan City, Pangasinan on Friday, Marcos emphasized the importance of entering into public-private partnership (PPP) arrangements to implement infrastructure projects more efficiently and at reduced cost to the government.
The president said such collaborations should be utilized to hasten the delivery of classrooms needed to support the education sector.
The Department of Education (DepEd) has proposed the construction of nearly 3,000 classrooms in the Ilocos Region between 2025 and 2030. Marcos noted the urgency of the initiative and said he was pleased with DepEd’s ongoing efforts to improve literacy in the region, which historically performs better than the national average.
“I’m glad to see the intervention at DepEd, the construction of the classrooms. I think we need to accelerate that. I do not think we want to wait until 2030 for all of those classrooms,” Marcos said.
The DepEd’s budget proposal for 2026 also includes the hiring of additional school principals, administrative officers, school counselor associates, and project development officers. Efforts are also ongoing to fill vacant teaching positions in the region and implement the yearly creation and deployment of teaching items.
A recently completed two-storey, four-classroom building worth PHP14.9 million at Catbangen Elementary School in San Fernando City, La Union was funded under the 2023 Basic Education Facilities Fund. Construction began in July 2023 and was completed in March 2024.