First Lady Louise Araneta-Marcos and Education Secretary Juan Edgardo ‘Sonny’ Angara, together with the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA), officially launched the nationwide school-based hydroponics project on Thursday at Las Piñas National High School and Parañaque National High School, a major push for food security and innovative learning.
The initiative, part of the ‘Agri Tayo, Lab for All’ program, introduces modern, space-efficient, and climate-resilient farming technologies to public schools.
Angara highlighted that by using up to 90 percent less water than traditional farming, hydroponics serves as a vital climate adaptation strategy against the severe impacts of Super El Niño while driving sustainable food production.
He also emphasized that the initiative modernizes the Department of Education’s (DepEd) long-standing Gulayan sa Paaralan Program (GPP) to better equip learners for climate extremes and food sustainability challenges.
The First Lady and Angara inspected the newly installed greenhouse units at Las Piñas National High School and interacted with learners.
Funded through the Social Environmental Fund generated from reclamation projects, the first phase aims to establish hydroponics greenhouse facilities in 200 schools nationwide, scaling up to 700 units overall to tackle spatial and agricultural challenges in urban and coastal communities.
Aside from supplementing the School-Based Feeding Program with freshly harvested vegetables, the greenhouse facilities are designed to serve as hands-on living laboratories. Through experiential learning, learners can directly observe plant growth, nutrient management, water utilization, and photosynthesis, thereby integrating real-world science into their lessons.
The project also supports Agri-Fishery Arts and agro-entrepreneurship electives under the strengthened Senior High School curriculum, helping learners cultivate practical livelihood and technical-vocational skills.
For the initial phase, beneficiary schools across Metro Manila and various provinces including Cavite, Cagayan, Pangasinan, Pampanga, and Masbate will each receive a hydroponics greenhouse facility.
Las Piñas City National High School and Parañaque National High School received two units each to maximize learner reach and community engagement.
DepEd and its partners look forward to expanding the collaboration to more institutions, ensuring that more Filipino learners gain practical agricultural skills while contributing to community food security.