DPWH-Leyte to build 56 more classrooms

TACLOBAN CITY, Oct. 13 (PNA) -- Fifty-six more classrooms will be added to various public schools in central Leyte in a bid to address the need for more classrooms for the burgeoning number of students yearly and the new enrollees for the K to 12 program implementation which started this year.

The second Leyte engineering district of the Department of Public Works and Highways recently awarded contracts for the constructions of school buildings in Jaro, Macarthur, Lapas, Dagami and Dulag towns.

The school buildings comprise the ninth batch for the school building program funded under the Department of Education’s (DepEd) Basic Educational Facilities Fund (BEFF).

The school buildings due to start construction include the three-storey 12-classroom in Granja Kalinawan National High School in Jaro, Leyte; three-storey 9-classroom at the Macarthur National High School in Macarthur, Leyte.

District Engineer Carlos Veloso said that all school buildings being constructed by the DPWH are typhoon-resilient based on a new standards jointly set by DepEd and the DPWH.

With stronger typhoons expected with the radical change in climate, the education and public works departments made sure that schools can withstand ferocious winds and heavy downpours

The new school building design takes into consideration human dimensions, applicable building codes, green building adaptation, effect of climate change, calamity-resilience, withstanding strong typhoons and major earthquakes and compliance with the National Structural Code of the Philippines.

School building construction program proved to be very challenging for the engineering office as some sites failed to pass the subsurface soil exploration survey, leading to cost adjustment, and search for alternative sites.

The construction of additional school buildings and classrooms through the BEFF have eased classroom shortages and provided additional facilities.

DepEd provided more than PHP411 million in funds for these school buildings to ensure adequate classrooms as the senior high school program starts. (PNA)
JMC/SQM/AHLETTE C. REYES/EGR