TACLOBAN CITY – At least 56 more classrooms will be added to various public schools in Leyte in a bid to address the need for more classrooms for the increasing number of students yearly and the new enrollees under the K to 12 program which started this year.
The Department of Public Works and Highways’ 2nd Leyte Engineering District (2nd LED) recently awarded contracts for the constructions of school buildings in Jaro, Macarthur, Lapaz, Dagami and Dulag towns.
The school buildings comprise the ninth batch for the school building program funded under the Department of Education’s 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; three-storey 9-classroom at the Macarthur National High School in Macarthur; two-storey 3-classroom building and a three-storey 12-classroom building at the Atty. Roque A. Marcos Memorial School in Lapaz; two-storey 8-classroom building at the Sta. Mesa National High School in Dagami and the three-storey 9-classroom building at the Dulag National High School in Dulag.
Engineer Carlos Veloso, head of the 2nd LED, said that all school buildings being constructed by the DPWH are typhoon resilient based on a new standards jointly set by DepEd and their department.
With stronger typhoons expected attributed to climate change, both the DPWH and the DepEd made sure that schools can withstand ferocious winds and heavy downpours.
The design of the new school buildings 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 DPWH 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 thru the BEFF have eased classroom shortages and provided additional facilities.
DepEd provided more than P411 million in funds for these school buildings to ensure adequate classrooms as the senior high school program starts.
(AHLETTE C. REYES)
