The Department of Education (DepEd) will begin distributing more than 144,000 sets of bamboo-made school furniture in February, a move that aligns with a long-standing government mandate to utilize sustainable materials in classrooms.

It announced Monday that the rollout, which runs through March, will provide 144,081 sets of tables and chairs for students and 3,235 sets for teachers to replace worn or unusable equipment in selected public schools nationwide.

The initiative enforces Executive Order 879, a 2010 policy requiring at least 20 percent of public school furniture to be made from bamboo.

Education officials said the new sets are made from climate-resilient engineered bamboo designed for durability. This distribution is part of a broader P16.19 billion infrastructure push that includes the ongoing construction of 5,766 classrooms under the latest funding batch.