THE SHORTAGE in classrooms and the pandemic should not be an excuse to postpone the resumption of face-to-face classes, Vice President and Department of Education Secretary Sara Duterte-Carpio said on Monday.

“We can no longer make Covid19 pandemic as an excuse to keep our children from their schools. The Philippines has been reopening up just like the rest of the world has reopened,” Duterte said during her visit at Dinalupihan Elementary School in Bataan.

“We cannot make the lack of educational infrastructure or the inadequate number of classrooms in certain provinces another excuse to keep our children from schools,” she added.

Classroom shortage and lack of teachers are among the challenges faced by several schools as classes for School Year 2022-2023 opened on Monday.

In schools where classrooms were not enough, classes were divided into two shifts while partitions were also installed in several classrooms to split them into two.

DepEd spokesperson Michael Poa earlier said the number of classrooms in the National Capital Region and Calabarzon is not enough due to the high number of students.

Poa said this prompted schools to implement double or triple shifts and blended learning to address the overcrowding of students.

The Education department earlier proposed P86.5-billion budget for 2023 for the construction of classrooms.

DepEd Undersecretary Anne Sevilla said the amount could build 34,552 schools in first- to sixth-class municipalities.