President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has directed the government agencies concerned to prioritize the well-being of students, especially for their basic necessities such as water and electricity, now that the 2025-2026 academic year has begun.

During his visit to Epifanio de los Santos Elementary School in Manila, the President said the national agencies must help each other to solve problems.

“I mentioned to our teachers that all government departments are converged here, working together,” he said.

Marcos, in particular, ordered the Department of Information and Communications Technology to connect schools, including those in Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Areas (GIDA), to the internet so they may use modern technology in their instruction. He lamented that only 60 percent of public schools are connected to the internet.

The President also instructed the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Transportation to ease the burden of parents and students by ensuring that student fare discounts are properly implemented and school supplies are affordable.

For the health and wellness of students, Marcos ordered the Department of Health to ensure proper medical care and health facilities are available in public schools in case of injuries or accidents.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development, on the other hand, will monitor instances of bullying and cyber-bullying.

“Cyber bullying, bullying… it becomes a big problem, because it’s a mental health problem for children, they will not perform well because there’s bullying, they can’t study well,” Marcos said.

Expanded feeding program

The President also cited the expanded feeding program implemented by the DSWD, which will begin in July.

“Maybe our next meeting will be at the feeding program so we can monitor it closely. That’s why we expanded, we expanded before, we expanded the feeding program for the youth,” he said.

The Chief Executive recalled that the DSWD has a program under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) which helps pregnant women and children aged 0-2 years old receive the nutrition they need.

“If you remember [at] DSWD, we have a program from the first 1,000 days, including pregnancy, so the child can be well cared for before birth and after,” he said.

“Now, from five years on, we have many programs for them, especially the feeding program for our young people,” he added.

Meanwhile, the President had an opportunity to speak with teachers in other parts of the country. He urged them to report their concerns to the DepEd and their local government units.

“Tell your DepEd representative, even at the LGU up to the regional level, so we can know. Your superintendents… give us whatever you think we can do to make things better,” he said.

Reverting to old calendar ‘good choice’

Meanwhile, DepEd Secretary Sonny Angara said the President’s decision to revert to the old school calendar was a “good choice” as the latter months of the year are the rainy season.

“I think what the President did was a good choice because in July and August, the rains are really strong,” he said.

With the reversion of the school calendar, students’ summer vacation was shortened. However, Angara said this was a one-time thing. He said the power to suspend classes during bad weather rests with the LGUs.

“It’s not up to us, it’s with the local governments,” he said.

Previously, whenever Signal No. 1 was hoisted by weather bureau Pag-asa, kindergarten classes were suspended. However, with the new policy set by DepEd, LGUs and schools have the authority to determine whether or not classes would continue to prevent unnecessary disruptions in learning.

PPP schools in works

Meanwhile, 27 million students from preschool to senior high school are expected to return to school this year.

With the influx of students, Angara said the DepEd has submitted a proposal for the construction of 105,000 classrooms through Public-Private Partnerships (PPP). The DepEd chief said this will take the form of a loan with 10 years to pay

“It’s already going through the Department of Economy, Planning and Development (formerly NEDA) and the ICC (Investment Coordination Committee) so there are approvals, they will review our proposal, but we think if we don’t do that, we’ll be left behind,” he said.

Angara said if the proposals are passed, construction will begin by next year.

On average, 3,000 to 5,000 classrooms are constructed every year, according to Angara.

Construction may begin, primarily, in urban areas in Region IV-A (Calabarzon) and the National Capital Region.