Despite facing a shortage of approximately 5,000 classrooms across Western Visayas, the Department of Education (DepEd-6) assured to provide learning to nearly one million students enrolled for School Year 2026–2027 in the region.

“The shortage of classrooms is not a new problem, and it is not isolated to Western Visayas. It is a nationwide concern,” said DepEd-6 Regional Public Affairs Officer Hernani Escullar Jr.

“This data—around 5,000 needed classrooms across the region—does not and will not hamper the education of our children,” he further said.

Escullar praised school heads across the region for utilizing local resources and executing flexible space-management strategies.

“Our school principals are highly resourceful. They make the necessary on-site adjustments. If there are vacant conference rooms, open-air stages, or other underutilized spaces on campus, they convert them into temporary learning areas,” he said.

“Our ultimate goal is to guarantee that every child has a physical space to study, regardless of the room’s original designation,” Escullar added.

In highly congested urban districts where physical spaces are entirely depleted, schools are turning to administrative solutions such as “multi-session” schedules, splitting larger enrollments into morning and afternoon shifts to maximize the use of a single classroom.

Addressing the long-term solution to the shortage, Escullar clarified that while the regional office monitors and reports facility gaps, the construction of new school buildings relies on a broader collaborative framework.

The DepEd signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) alongside various Local Government Units (LGUs) to expedite classroom construction.

“Under this MOA, the LGUs are the ones who will actively build the classrooms,” Escullar explained.

“Our role at DepEd is to supply the technical standards, ensuring that all newly constructed facilities strictly abide by the official dimensions and safety designs set by the department.”IMT