A civil society organization (CSO) has called on the government to launch a thorough investigation into the delays in classroom construction, following the Department of Education’s (DepEd) admission that only 22 classrooms were built this year.
E-Net Philippines made the call in a recent statement after pointing out that DepEd’s report that only 22 classrooms were completed this year was ‘both alarming and unacceptable.’ According to the organization, the delay is not merely a case of bureaucratic delay, but a tell-tale sign of a ‘deeply entrenched crisis of governance marked by corruption, poor accountability and misplaced priorities.’
It also warned that the massive classroom backlog of over 146,000 nationwide could rise further to 200,000 by 2028 should these types of delays continue.
‘Corruption in public spending not only robs every Filipino child of a future. It undermines our Constitution’s clear mandate to make education the country’s top priority,’ the group noted.
Due to this, E-Net Philippines called for the conduct of an independent and transparent investigation into the Department of Public Works and Highways, as well as other implementing agencies, regarding the delays and possible corruption in classroom construction and related education projects.
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It also told the government to redirect budgets from questionable infrastructure projects to educational facilities, especially those in disadvantaged areas.
Along with this, E-Net also urged the government to address the ‘chronic underfunding’ of Alternative Learning System, Special Needs Education, Indigenous Peoples Education, Madrasah and Last Mile Schools, and immediately implement long-overdue teacher benefits under the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers.
Furthermore, E-Net also called on the government to institutionalize CSO involvement in monitoring budgets and project implementation.
E-Net also implored DepEd Sec. Sonny Angara to ‘demonstrate decisive leadership and integrity in confronting this crisis.’