Gov’t urged to shift away from utilizing colleges as evacuation facilities

Studying is additional disrupted when colleges function short-term shelters — one other challenge that the disaster-prone Philippines should deal with as soon as and for all

MANILA, Philippines – Throughout the Philippines, public colleges are generally used as evacuation facilities throughout disasters. However for the Second Congressional Fee on Schooling (EDCOM 2), there must be a shift away from this apply because it contributes to the nation’s studying disaster.

EDCOM 2 identified that underneath Republic Act (RA) No. 10821 or the Youngsters’s Emergency Reduction and Safety Act, colleges ought to function short-term shelters “solely as a final resort and for a strictly restricted interval.” In actuality, nonetheless, this usually isn’t the case.

“The continued use of lecture rooms as evacuation facilities additional compounds studying disruptions…. Many faculties then function in short-term studying areas…which worsens congestion and lowers tutorial high quality,” the fee mentioned in its Closing Report, launched on January 26.

There’s already a regulation mandating the development of everlasting evacuation facilities in each metropolis and municipality within the nation — RA No. 12076 or the Ligtas Pinoy Facilities Act, signed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in December 2024. Through the ceremonial signing of the regulation, Marcos had mentioned that colleges shouldn’t “bear the burden of being makeshift shelters.”

It’s one other downside altogether when colleges themselves are hit by disasters. Large floods and damaging winds throughout extreme climate, damaging earthquakes, and volcanic unrest carry extra woes to an training system that’s already suffering from a continual scarcity of amenities.

Citing information from the Division of Schooling (DepEd), EDCOM 2 mentioned over 10,700 colleges have been affected by calamities simply from June to October 2025.

In September 2025 alone, greater than 7,500 lecture rooms have been broken within the magnitude 6.9 earthquake that struck Cebu province. This displaced over 19,000 college students and almost 1,000 personnel.

“Disasters are actually one of the vital disruptive forces shaping the training surroundings within the Philippines, repeatedly destroying college infrastructure and interrupting training at scale,” EDCOM 2 mentioned.

Within the aftermath of a catastrophe, college students and academics usually make do with short-term areas that aren’t conducive to studying.

As it’s, the Philippines already faces a scarcity of no less than 165,443 lecture rooms, inflicting congestion and prompting colleges to implement a number of shifts per day.

“Evaluation reveals that whereas common classroom–to-learner ratios have improved nationally, congestion persists in particular divisions, with some colleges accommodating 75 to greater than 250 learners per classroom and a pair of,233 public colleges compelled to function double and even triple shifts to deal with extra demand,” EDCOM 2 mentioned.

Previous buildings, lack of engineers

Not all the current amenities are in good situation both. EDCOM 2, citing information from the Nationwide College Constructing Stock, mentioned round a 3rd of faculty buildings “require main rehabilitation, are unfinished, or are already tagged as condemned or for condemnation.”

A substantial variety of college buildings are additionally outdated. Out of 330,000 college buildings nationwide, round 123,000 are already greater than 25 years outdated whereas almost 24,000 are over 50 years outdated — equivalent to an estimated 2.5 million getting older lecture rooms. DepEd requirements prescribe a 25-year classroom design lifespan.

“With out a substantial ramp-up in substitute and systematic rehabilitation, an growing share of lecture rooms will fall into poor situation by 2040…. The result’s a rising infrastructure deficit that can not be addressed by means of routine repairs alone however as a substitute requires long-term capital planning, sooner substitute cycles, and nearer alignment with up to date nationwide constructing codes and climate-resilience requirements,” EDCOM 2 mentioned.

The fee additionally identified the “alarming” state of affairs inside the DepEd in relation to engineering personnel, with solely 169 of 224 divisions having engineer positions.

As well as, “every division receives just one engineer place no matter scope — whether or not overseeing 13 colleges in San Juan Metropolis or 1,275 colleges in Leyte.”

This setup “ignores the truth that division engineers should deal with complicated obligations spanning website identification, allow processing, building monitoring, and compliance verification throughout all colleges of their jurisdiction,” mentioned EDCOM 2.

Options to DPWH

For progress to be made in addressing the classroom scarcity, changing getting older college buildings, and making infrastructure resilient to disasters, EDCOM 2 reiterated the necessity for options to the Division of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

The DPWH is the company tasked with constructing lecture rooms, however its efficiency has been dismal. In 2025, solely 60 out of the focused 1,700 lecture rooms had been completed because the yr was about to finish — a measly 3.53%.

EDCOM 2’s suggestions embrace tapping public-private partnerships and permitting native authorities items (LGUs) to take cost of classroom building, supplied nationwide requirements are adopted.

In relation to that, the lately handed Senate Invoice No. 1482 would authorize LGUs and nongovernment organizations to assemble lecture rooms underneath the proposed Classroom-Constructing Acceleration Program. Senators authorized this invoice on third and closing studying final January 26, voting 22-0-0.

EDCOM 2 famous too that “decongestion can’t depend on building alone.” It referred to as for strengthening voucher and scholarship packages which might allow public college college students to switch to personal colleges that may accommodate them. – Rappler.com