THE House Committee on Basic Education and Culture has approved a measure aiming to address the problem of classroom shortage in the country by rationalizing the Department of Education’s budget allocation for capital outlay.

The panel, headed by Pasig City Rep. Roman Romulo has agreed to endorse for plenary deliberations House Bill 3174 filed by House Deputy Speaker Ralph Recto.

The measure seeks to amend Republic Act No. 7880 or the Fair and Equitable Access to Education Act in a bid to eliminate the problem of classroom shortage, as well as rationalize the construction, rehabilitation, replacement, completion, and repair of needed school buildings and classrooms.

RA 7880 states that 50 percent of the total capital outlay for DepEd is allocated ‘pro rata’ to legislative districts according to student population, while only 40 percent is allocated to those with classroom shortages.

Recto, in his explanatory note, argued that this formula does not respond to the existing school building or classroom statistics anymore.

“The thrust of this bill is to shift priority, to areas with scarcity of classrooms by increasing the resource allocation for classroom shortages from 40% to 70% of the total capital outlay, while reducing the allocation for capital outlay according to student population from 50% to 20%. This is coupled with the proposed annual increase in the budget by 20% to eradicate classroom shortage,” Recto said.

The bill also directs the creation of a National School Building Committee composed of the DepEd and the Department of Budget and Management to draw the Annual School Building Expenditure Program.