Photo credit: DepEd

The Department of Education on Monday launched its Classroom Leasing Initiative, a stopgap solution developed with local governments and the private sector to quickly ease overcrowding in public schools while permanent classrooms are still being built.

Education Secretary Sonny Angara led the program’s rollout in Pila, Laguna, marking the first time DepEd has formally adopted classroom leasing as part of its national infrastructure strategy. The move also responds to the directive of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to find faster, practical ways to address the country’s classroom shortage.

Under the program, leased facilities are now being used as an annex of Don Manuel Rivera Memorial Integrated National High School. Senior High School students have been transferred to the new site, bringing classrooms closer to their homes, reducing congestion on campus, and creating a more comfortable learning environment.

“Hindi natin isinasantabi ang pagtatayo ng mga bagong silid-aralan. Tuloy-tuloy pa rin ang classroom construction sa buong bansa. Pero habang ginagawa ito, kailangan din nating magisip ng mga praktikal at agarang solusyon gaya ng classroom leasing para hindi na maghintay ang mga bata at guro ng ilang taon bago magkaroon ng maayos na lugar para matuto,” Angara said.

He stressed that classroom leasing is meant to complement long-term infrastructure programs, including traditional classroom construction, public-private partnership projects, and other alternative delivery modalities.

According to Angara, the initiative is designed to address the immediate classroom shortage that leads to shifting schedules, reduced teaching hours, and strained learning resources, especially in fast-growing cities and provinces.

Laguna was chosen as the pilot area because it is among the most congested provinces in the country, with high enrollment numbers and limited space for school expansion.

Within just a few months, DepEd was able to refurbish and reopen the leased classrooms, showing how existing but unused facilities—such as private schools that closed during the pandemic—can be quickly converted into functional learning spaces.

DepEd also noted that classroom leasing can be more cost-effective in areas where land acquisition is difficult or where schools urgently need space to avoid disrupting students while waiting for large-scale infrastructure projects.

Local officials in Pila welcomed the initiative, highlighting how close coordination between national and local governments helped fast-track site selection, engage property owners, and deliver basic requirements so the facility could open without delay.

DepEd said it plans to expand classroom leasing to other high-need areas, particularly where local governments and private partners are willing to collaborate on shared solutions to classroom congestion.

The initiative forms part of the broader Marcos administration push to close the country’s classroom gap through faster construction, stronger partnerships with local governments and the private sector, and flexible, temporary solutions that protect teaching time and improve learning conditions.