President Ferdinand Marcos Jr aired his disappointment over reports that the country’s education sector still lacks adequate classrooms for Filipino learners.

“As of December of last year, we have a classroom shortage that amounts to a stunning one hundred and forty-five thousand units. How have we allowed this to become such a bad, bad situation? I cannot – I cannot understand,” Marcos Jr said in a speech at the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement between the Department of Education and local government units for a nationwide classroom building project in Malacañang Palace on Wednesday.

He said the scarcity of classrooms in the country persists, prompting students to sacrifice by taking shifts in using classrooms, with some using basketball courts and under a tree as a place for learning.

“Dahil sa kakulangan ng silid-aralan, gumagawa tayo ng ilang shift ng pasok para sa mga estudyante. Kaya ang ibang madaling – kaya ‘yung iba madaling araw nang papasok at ‘yung iba naman, gabing-gabi na at saka – saka pa lang lalabas sa eskwela. Nandiyan na rin ay mga mag-aaral na nagka-klase sa mga basketball court o kung minsan sa ilalim lang ng puno. And this is the gap that we must address urgently.”

The MOA signing formalizes the partnership between the DepEd and the different provinces around the country to make sure that every Filipino student has a safe and decent classroom to learn in.

“I have seen many of the struggles that our students, our teachers, and our parents face when having to send their children to school. They are studying and dreaming of a better future in poorly built facilities, cramped spaces, and sometimes no facilities at all,” he said.

“It is the reason why our Admin – this Administration has been finding all kinds of alternative ways that we can immediately close this yawning gap. Because we cannot wait another five or ten years to ensure that every student has a comfortable classroom,” the President added.

He said the government initiated the partnership with the local government units as one of the government’s interventions to resolve the classroom backlog.

Marcos Jr even admitted that they are changing the system “because the process that we have now is much too slow.”

“With this initiative, we can take a big bite out of that gap. And under this partnership, the DepEd will set the technical standards, provide designs, and supply the funding for these classrooms. On the other hand, the LGUs will take the lead in their procurement and actual construction,” Marcos Jr stated.

He assured that even the provincial leaders will be given additional functions, and the national government will provide adequate funding from the DepEd for the LGUs.

“Ang sabi ko nga sa kanila, sa lahat, eh sabi ko, ‘Eh, papaano ‘yan baka magkaproblema ulit sa ghost project at saka sa substandard? Ang sabi ko, hindi uubra ‘yan pagka sa LGU. Hindi uubra ‘yan dahil ang tao mismo ang kaharap ninyo. Pagka hindi maganda ang gawin ninyong trabaho, sisitahin kayo. Araw-araw kayong – gabi-gabi kayong kakatukin sa bahay ninyo. Sasabihin, ‘Ayusin ninyo ‘yung problema,’” according to the President.