(CARMONA, Cavite) President Benigno S. Aquino III on Friday led the turnover of a P43-million classroom project by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) here, which was constructed with the assistance of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Department of Education.
The school building project, built under PAGCOR’s Matuwid na Daan sa Silid Aralan, is a four-storey, 20-classroom structure, which is expected to benefit 1,000 students in Carmona Elementary School.
Carmona school officials said the new school building will reduce the number of class shifts from two classes to just one shift per day. Carmona Elementary School currently has 48 instructional rooms and five non-instructional rooms, and a total population of 2,195 students. With the completion of the new school building, school officials also hope to accommodate enrollees from nearby communities.
Launched in June 2011, the Matuwid na Daan sa Silid Aralan aims to address the acute deficiency in classrooms in public schools, both in elementary and high school.
Under the project, PAGCOR provides the funding while the Education Department identifies the location where the classrooms will be constructed and the DPWH builds the structures.
As of February this year, PAGCOR has been able to build a total of 2,221 classrooms in 448 sites nationwide.
Some 1,845 classrooms are still under construction in 279 sites while 1,196 are undergoing procurement in 106 sites.
The Matuwid Na Daan sa Silid Aralan has also reached far-flung communities across the country, such as those in the provinces of Sultan Kudarat, Lanao del Sur, Cotabato, Catanduanes, Palawan, Bukidnon, Masbate, Compostela Valley, Maguindanao, Apayao, Ifugao, Mountain Province, and Benguet.
According to PAGCOR, it has so far turned over P12 billion to the DPWH and the Department of Education to construct new classrooms for state-subsidized schools.
Of the amount, P2 billion is being utilized solely to construct some 2,000 classrooms in public schools damaged by Typhoon Yolanda in Eastern Visayas. PND (as)
