AS THE new school year approaches, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian reiterated the urgent need to address the persistent shortage of classrooms and school equipment in public schools, especially in urban areas where overcrowding remains a serious concern.

Gatchalian said the Department of Education must act swiftly to resolve infrastructure backlogs, amid projections that enrollment could reach 27 million this school year.

“We’re expecting a high number of enrollees this year — 27 million. That’s a huge number,” said Gatchalian.

“The same problems persist, especially in urban areas: a shortage of classrooms, overcrowded learning spaces, and lack of essential equipment,” he added.

To help address these issues, Gatchalian said he is pushing for a significant increase in the classroom construction budget during the upcoming national budget deliberations.

He also emphasized the importance of improving the government’s “absorptive capacity,” or the ability to implement and complete projects on time.

“Even if we allocate large budgets, it won’t matter if it still takes two to three years to finish building a single classroom. Sometimes, the president’s term ends before a school building is even completed,” he said.

Gatchalian stressed that timely implementation must go hand-in-hand with increased funding to truly improve learning conditions for Filipino students.

He assured the public that lawmakers are working to address these delays and ensure better school facilities across the country.