THE DEPARTMENT of Education on Friday said it has ordered an audit of its infrastructure projects with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), following reports that around 1,000 classrooms nationwide remain incomplete.

The move came after DepEd directed all regional and division field offices on Sept. 12 to submit reports on school buildings left unfinished due to “prolonged stoppage, incomplete delivery or structural defects.”

In a radio interview, Education Secretary Sonny Angara said 1,000 classrooms cannot be used even after the supposed turnover.

“Mayroon kaming nakikita na hindi na-complete, hindi naman totally na ghost pero ‘yung hindi tinapos, parang tinurn-over na (We are seeing those uncompleted, not totally ghost but unfinished, and it seems to be already turned-over),” he said.

“Tinurn-over pero hindi napinturahan, walang kuryente. So, ‘yun kailangan kumpletuhin (It was turned over despite being unpainted, without electricity. So, that’s what needed to be completed).”

Angara assured the public that the agency is looking into the matter, citing various possible reasons for the construction delays.

All DepEd regional, division, and project engineers have been instructed to coordinate with the DPWH to reconcile project records, he said.

Validated reports must be submitted to the Education Facilities Division within 15 working days, while regional engineers are expected to transmit consolidated reports.

Angara, meanwhile, reiterated the need to open construction opportunities to local government units to accelerate the timeline of classroom backlog reduction.

“Kapag hindi natin iniba ‘yung sistema natin, hindi natin maso-solusyunan iyan at lalaki at lalaki yung kakulangan ng classroom (If we don’t change our systems, we will not be able to solve it, our classroom shortage will just increase),” he added.

DepEd said the country has a shortage of around 165,000 classrooms.

At the DPWH’s current pace, the DepEd estimates that only a little over 4,000 classrooms can be built annually. (PNA)