EDUCATION Secretary Sonny Angara on Wednesday called on the private sector to take a proactive role in addressing the country’s shortage of 165,000 classrooms and in modernizing public schools.

Speaking to business leaders at the Philippine Business for Education forum, Angara highlighted that delays in school infrastructure development and limited digital access continue to restrict learning opportunities for millions of Filipino students.

The secretary emphasized that the Department of Education (DepEd) is pursuing large-scale public-private partnerships (PPPs) to speed up classroom construction and enhance school facilities. These collaborations are expected to provide up to 106,000 new classrooms in the coming years, forming a key part of the government’s plan to close the national classroom deficit.

“PPP is the bridge between urgency and execution,” Angara said. “We invite the private sector not just as donors, but as partners in shaping national development.”

He noted that conventional government procurement for classrooms can take two to seven years, whereas PPP arrangements can reduce project timelines to as little as one to two years by streamlining approvals and consolidating procurement processes.

The DepEd has already received approval to construct an initial 16,000 classrooms under the latest phase of its PPP program, prioritizing areas with the most acute shortages.