PRESIDENT Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said education remains his top priority for the remainder of his term.

“I have pledged that for the rest of this Administration, we will prioritize—education will be our first priority,” Marcos said.

He made the statement while addressing local government officials, teachers, and students during the ceremonial signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the Department of Education (DepEd) and local government units to fast-track classroom construction across the country.

“The challenges facing our education sector are immense. But now we have the opportunity to address at least part of these problems and provide students with a better learning environment,” Marcos added.

Under the MOA, the government has allocated P9.6 billion for the first phase of classroom construction, which will provide 4,000 new classrooms nationwide—1,200 to be built by provincial governments and 2,800 prefabricated classrooms to be procured by DepEd.