Education Sec. Leonor Magtolis Briones emphasized the need to create more conducive learning spaces.
“I would like to thank our friends and partners who have conceptualized solutions and designs of school buildings, which are appropriate to the call of the times, appropriate for the needs for more space, and greater safety for our learners,” Briones said.
She also recognized there is no enough land or property to build more schools in highly urbanized areas.
She said mid-rise buildings are the best creative solution to save on space.
“We can be late for many things, but we cannot be late for the future and this effort, responding to the need for space, is a response to the call of the future for space in education, for places for our children to learn and to play,” Briones said.
The medium-high rise school building design will be constructed in highly urbanized areas with a dense population but limited land areas for development.
DepEd proposed varied designs ranging from at least five to 12 floors or even higher, while the number of floors will depend on the classroom needs of the school, the available building space, the type of soil, and the projected enrollment population for the next 15 to 25 years.
“Ito ang sagot natin sa classroom shortage lalong-lalo na sa mga siyudad. It is brought about by growing population of urban dwellers and because of the limited land area of school sites,” Usec. for Administration Alain Del B. Pascua said.
“The only solution we can do is to go up, instead of expanding sideways, which we cannot because of the limitations of land or school sites, the only thing possible now is to go up and build the medium to high rise school building.”
The school buildings will be made with the latest construction technologies consistent with the National Building Code.
The Department’s Minimum Performance and Standard Specifications were also incorporated into the plans to optimize the use of the new school building designs. – Press release
April 26, 2024
