THE DEPARTMENT of Education is open to the possibility of institutionalizing blended learning to address the classroom shortage, an official said.

DepEd Spokesperson Michael Poa said that the agency gave priority to the building of more classrooms to address the shortage.

“Right now, it’s different on various ratios per grade level. Usually we are at 1:45,” he said regarding the lack of classrooms in public schools.

Poa agreed with Sen. Win Gatchalian that one of the biggest problems in the education sector is the lack of classrooms.

“Classroom shortage is definitely one of the perennial problems of basic education and must be addressed,” the spokesperson said.

To address the issue, Poa said that DepEd plans to make blended learning as a mode of education.

“It’s really difficult to catch up to the classroom shortage due to yearly calamities. So we are also exploring the possibility of institutionalizing blended learning because perhaps that could also help out with our classroom shortage,” he said.