THE ACT Teachers Partylist is urging the Marcos administration to double the country’s education budget to 6 percent of the gross domestic product, citing what they describe as a worsening classroom shortage crisis, with at least 165,000 classrooms lacking nationwide.

House Deputy Minority Leader Rep. France Castro, joined by ACT Teachers Rep.-elect Antonio Tinio, made the appeal following alarming findings from the Second Congressional Commission on Education. The report revealed that classroom congestion remains severe in the National Capital Region, CALABARZON, Region XII, and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Some elementary schools reportedly have student-to-classroom ratios as high as 1:50.

Tinio emphasized the need for systemic reforms in funding and infrastructure.

“The current budget allocation is clearly insufficient to address our education crisis. We need to double our commitment to education by allocating 6% of GDP to ensure we can build the classrooms our children desperately need,” he said.

The lawmakers also criticized the Department of Education’s performance under former Secretary Sara Duterte.

A 2023 report from the Commission on Audit showed that the DepEd completed only 192 classrooms out of a target of 6,379—a completion rate of just 3.01%.

“This is absolutely unacceptable,” said Rep. Castro. “While our education system was already in crisis, the previous DepEd leadership made things worse. With the kind of budget—and even confidential funds—at her disposal, this was all she accomplished? Where did the money go?”

Castro recounted scenes from a recent school visit: “We saw extreme overcrowding, a lack of classrooms, and exhausting shifting schedules. Some schools have even turned ‘teachers hubs’ for blended learning into makeshift computer shops. Instead of being a solution, blended learning risks becoming a cover-up for the government’s failure to build proper classrooms.”

Despite declining fertility rates that may ease future enrollment slightly, ACT Teachers warned that the country could still face a shortage of 58,000 to 81,000 classrooms by 2040 if construction remains stagnant. Projections show it could take over five decades to resolve the backlog under current practices.

“We cannot allow another generation of Filipino children to suffer from overcrowded classrooms and inadequate learning environments,” Castro said. “This administration must prioritize education infrastructure and dramatically increase the number of classrooms built annually.”

The ACT Teachers bloc vowed to push for legislation mandating higher education spending and enforcing strict accountability for infrastructure projects to prevent similar failures.

“This is not just about numbers—it’s about the future of our children,” Tinio said. “Every overcrowded classroom is a missed opportunity for quality education. The Marcos administration must act now.”