ACT TEACHERS Party-list Representative France Castro urged the Department of Education to produce a blueprint on how to address the lack of classrooms, facilities and learning materials in the country.

Castro said the DepEd should not rely on band-aid solutions that may affect the quality of education.

“We cannot simply accept another band-aid solution as an answer of the Department of Education in addressing the perennial problems of shortages of classrooms, facilities and learning materials. Band-aid solutions such as shifting classes, large class sizes, makeshift classrooms, and divided classrooms do not address the perennial problems of shortages, it also hurts the quality of education our youths receive,” Castro added.

“The first step in addressing a problem is having a blueprint on how they plan to solve these shortages for the long term. Habang walang maipakitang plano ang DepEd para maresolba ang matagal na problema na ito, pinapakita ng DepEd na hindi siya handa para sa ligtas na balik paaralan ngayon, at mananatiling hindi handa para sa ligtas at kalidad na balik paaralan ng mga guro at mag-aaral sa susunod na mga taon,” she said.

The education department is considering flexible learning options in addressing the shortages and is also consulting with the local government units and other stakeholders that can help address these concerns.

The lawmaker stressed that teachers are already exhausted with their teaching load and additional tasks and the least the education department can do is provide concrete solutions to their perennial problems.

The P150 million confidential fund of the DepEd could go a long way in providing 150,000 armchairs, 3 million textbooks or 4,286 laptops for teachers, she said.