Classrooms first: Building the future our children deserve

The Philippines today faces a sobering truth: We are short of 165,000 classrooms.

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Twelve years ago, that number was 55,000. Instead of shrinking, the deficit has tripled.

This shortage is not abstract. It means students enduring double and triple class shifts. It means children studying in makeshift tents, on the ground, or under the sun. It means young minds being denied the space to dream, grow, and thrive.

The causes are complex and longstanding: rapid population growth, aging infrastructure, typhoon damage, decades of underinvestment in basic education, and systemic inefficiencies. Corruption has compounded the problem.

At the heart of any education system is the classroom. No reform matters more. A proper classroom is a child’s first learning space — the foundation where hope for a better future begins.

Yet out of the 1,700 classrooms targeted for construction this year by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), only 22 have been completed. With just 15 percent completion, experts warn that the backlog may grow to 200,000 by 2028. At this rate, the crisis may persist for another 50 years.

That is unacceptable. Thankfully, change has begun.