The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) urges the Department of Education (DepEd) to immediately demolish abandoned school buildings nationwide, and conduct a comprehensive audit of public school infrastructure after a powerful earthquake in Mindanao damaged thousands of classrooms and school facilities last Monday.

DepEd's latest assessment of the magnitude 7.8 earthquake damaged 1,378 public schools across six regions as of 11 June, with 1,588 classrooms totally damaged, 1,774 sustained major damage, 5,378 suffered minor damage, while 193 water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities were also affected.

For ACT, the figures highlight the vulnerability of school infrastructure across the country and the risks facing millions of learners and education workers.

"The destruction witnessed in Mindanao should serve as a wake-up call. When a single earthquake can render more than 8,000 classrooms and facilities unsafe, it becomes painfully clear that many schools are one disaster away from catastrophe," said ACT chairperson Ruby Bernardo in a statement.

The group urged DepEd to identify and immediately remove structures that have long been declared unsafe, warning that these continue to endanger students, teachers and non-teaching personnel.

ACT also pressed the agency to undertake a nationwide assessment of school buildings to determine which facilities require urgent repair, retrofitting, strengthening, reconstruction or replacement.

Citing data from the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM II), ACT said 51,222 classrooms that are at least 50 years old are scheduled for condemnation by 2028. The group also pointed to 2,335 classrooms previously destroyed by earthquakes, typhoons and other calamities.

Bernardo said the country's classroom backlog and recurring damage from natural disasters have left many schools operating under unsafe conditions.

The group likewise questioned the quality of some school infrastructure projects, citing previous DepEd findings that more than a thousand school buildings constructed by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) were reportedly turned over but remain unfinished, unusable or non-operational.

"This is deeply alarming. At a time when public schools are suffering from severe classroom shortages, the existence of unfinished and unusable school buildings points to systemic failures in planning, implementation and accountability," Bernardo said.

She added that authorities should expand infrastructure audits to determine whether school buildings occupied by students and teachers comply with safety standards and have not been compromised by corruption or substandard construction.

The teachers' group also renewed calls for increased government spending on education infrastructure, saying the latest disaster underscored the consequences of chronic underfunding.

According to DepEd, at least P303.36 million is immediately needed for clean-up operations and repairs to minor-damaged classrooms in affected schools. The agency has so far released P21.9 million in emergency response funds.

ACT urged the Marcos administration to prioritize funding for school rehabilitation, disaster preparedness programs and psychosocial services for affected communities.

"As the new school year formally opens, the same deplorable learning and working conditions continue to confront teachers and students," Bernardo said. 

"The earthquake has once again exposed how years of chronic underfunding have left our schools vulnerable to disasters and unable to provide safe, resilient learning environments," she added.