The Department of Education (DepEd) has initiated public-private partnerships to scale up classroom construction in response to President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.'s marching order to address the country’s chronic classroom shortage, Education Secretary Sonny Angara said Wednesday.

“Mabigat po ang problema ng kakulangan sa classrooms dahil apektado po ’yung learning quality o ’yung abilidad ng isang estudyante na matuto nang maigi. So tama ‘yung sinabi ni Presidente na kailangan mag-think out of the box tayo,” Angara said during the forum, the first post-SONA discussion focused on education and workers’ welfare.

The forum gathered key officials from DepEd, the Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Migrant Workers, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), and Commission on Higher Education (CHED).

In his fourth State of the Nation Address on Monday, Marcos vowed to construct 40,000 additional classrooms before the end of his term as part of a major infrastructure push to solve the classroom shortage in public schools across the country.

Angara explained that over the past decade, the government has only managed to build an average of 6,000 classrooms per year.

"In the next five to 10 years, we can build over a hundred thousand classrooms. At ’yan ang tinutukoy ng ating mahal na Presidente.”

Beyond infrastructure, Angara also pointed to education reforms that better align learning pathways with future job markets, particularly in the age of artificial intelligence.

Angara added that DepEd is collaborating closely with TESDA, CHED, and DOLE to strengthen the technical-vocational track in Senior High School—now branded as “TechPro”—with options ranging from graphic design to electrical work. He said this move seeks to produce graduates qualified for “quality jobs,” not just minimum wage positions.

Meanwhile, Angara said his agency is eyeing to recover around P100 million from private schools linked to alleged anomalies in the Senior High School Voucher Program.

“Parang mas malaki pa nga, nasa P100 million na ata ang mare-recover,” he said.

“Continuous ang aming investigation diyan at paano palakasin ang sistema para wala nang makakadaya nito. Hindi maganda na itong mga programa sa ating kabataan ay yun ay pinaglalaruan lang,” the DepEd chief added.