THE DEPARTMENT of Education needs P86.5 billion for the construction and rehabilitation of school buildings and classrooms, an official said.

During the hearing of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, DepEd Undersecretary for Finance Annalyn Sevilla said that the amount will cover all cities and municipalities.

However, the Department of Budget and Management approved only P5.9 billion for schools in 5th and 6th class municipalities.

Sevilla said that the department had a P40 billion backlog in repairs, including P16 billion for the facilities destroyed by typhoon Odette.

“That is the problem that we will face in 2023 because even if we want to consider the other level of cities and municipalities with this given budget, we have to just prioritize the 5th and 6th municipalities,” she said.

Sevilla said that if the needed amount is released, the department can start repairing and building classrooms in 2023.

The DepEd and the Department of Public Works and Highways have developed the pre-detailed engineering, the official added.

“We also had the soil testing done in all school so we are ready with school building data,” Sevilla said.