A four-storey, 16-classroom school building at Santiago Elementary School was formally turned over and blessing as the Department of Education (DepEd) stepped up efforts to address classroom shortages in fast-growing urban areas and advance teacher career reforms.

Education Secretary Sonny Angara said the project reflects the administration’s focus on delivering concrete improvements at the school level, easing long-standing pressure on time and space for learners and teachers in Schools Division Office General Trias City, where rapid enrollment growth has led to overcrowded classrooms and strained daily school operations.

The new building, equipped with smart televisions, armchairs, and safety features such as fire alarms and emergency lights, adds to the capacity of Santiago Elementary School, which serves more than 2,400 learners.

The project was made possible through close coordination between DepEd and the city government, which has used its special education fund to accelerate school infrastructure development. More than 100 classrooms have been built or are underway across the division in less than three years, easing congestion in several schools.

Angara said DepEd is also rolling out flexibility measures nationwide to speed up classroom delivery, including allowing local government units to construct parallel school buildings, expanding public-private partnerships for large-scale classroom projects, and strengthening the Adopt-A-School Program to tap private sector support. These approaches, he noted, are meant to complement national funding and prevent delays in areas with urgent needs.

After the turnover ceremony, Angara presided over the mass oathtaking of 542 teachers from the Cavite cluster promoted under the Expanded Career Progression (ECP) System, with more than half of the promotions coming from SDO General Trias City. For many teachers, the promotions ended years—and in some cases decades—of stalled career movement that had dampened morale and retention.

Among them was Carmen R. Zorilla, now a Teacher IV of Tropical Village Elementary School, whose journey resonated with many in the crowd.

She thanked President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. and Angara for pushing reforms that made career advancement possible.

Angara said the scale of promotions marks a historic shift for the department.

Nationwide, DepEd has already hired 27,080 teachers, reclassified 16,025 educators, and processed new teaching, school leadership, guidance counseling, and administrative positions to clear promotion backlogs and stabilize public school workforce.