Daily Tribune
‘All kindergarten children who are registered and attending public schools will be able to have access to nutritious food.’
Photograph courtesy of DEPED
Kindergarten pupils in some public schools are forced to start classes as early as 5:45 a.m. under shifting schedules caused by a shortage of classrooms, which reached 165,443 as of 2026.
Under the current curriculum, morning classes typically start at 6 a.m., but in severely congested schools—such as Ciudad Nuevo Elementary School in Naic, Cavite—kindergarten classes begin 15 minutes earlier, Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) chief legislative officer Simoun Salinas said.
The adjustment aims to maximize the limited time available on each shift, as some schools are implementing double or triple shifts to accommodate high student numbers.
EDCOM 2 noted that the “severe shortage” of classrooms undermines the quality of education for Filipino students and is not only due to slow construction but also insufficient funding for classroom building over the years.
“Due to this backlog, over 2,000 schools must implement double or triple shifts,” Salinas told the Senate committee on basic education on Monday.
Shifting schedules are most prevalent in CALABARZON, Central Luzon, and Central Visayas.
CALABARZON accounted for the largest share of classroom backlogs, with 31,010, followed by Metro Manila with 24,866. The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao ranked third with 13,237, followed by Central Luzon with 13,119.
Data from EDCOM 2 also showed a sharp decline in classroom completion since 2014. The most notable shortfall occurred in 2018, when the country aimed to build 47,000 classrooms but completed only 21,216, just over half of the target.
EDCOM 2 described these deficiencies as a “systematic failure,” caused by the widening gap between budget promises and actual delivery on the ground.
Congress earmarked a historic P1.34 trillion budget for education in 2026, with P961.3 billion allocated to the Department of Education. The funding aims to address classroom backlogs, textbooks, and the feeding program, among other priorities.
Specifically, P67.9 billion is allocated to construct 25,000 classrooms.
