Addressing classroom shortage

Upgrade to High-Speed Internet for only ₱1499/month!

Enjoy up to 100 Mbps fiber broadband, perfect for browsing, streaming, and gaming.

Visit Suniway.ph to learn

MANILA, Philippines — As the country’s persistent classroom shortage remains a concern, recent advances in construction methods can address the problem – not just in terms of funding, but also in terms of the speed and efficiency of constructing school buildings.

Concrete Stone Corp. (CSC), a company owned by Engineer Francis Chua that is engaged in the manufacture and supply of construction materials, recently briefed President Marcos and his key Cabinet officials on construction developments where classroom components are prefabricated before onsite assembly and furnishing.

Already adopted in other urbanized Asian countries, the method was presented as a way to expedite public infrastructure projects, specifically schools, where delays often escalate over time.

Modular construction methods can help address the country’s persistent classroom shortage by delivering safe, high-quality learning spaces more efficiently than traditional construction methods.

President Marcos and Education Secretary Sonny Angara recently visited the furnished prefabricated classrooms in a national high school in Bataan, which feature standard classroom units built in compliance with the Department of Education’s (DepEd) specifications.

Manufacturing structural elements like slabs, walls and beams in a controlled factory environment allows for better quality oversight and reduces dependence on onsite labor and weather conditions. This approach can help accelerate construction schedules and keep costs in check, addressing two recurring challenges in government infrastructure projects.

The timing of the innovations is particularly relevant. The Second Congressional Commission on Education has stressed the magnitude of the problem, with the country facing an estimated backlog of 145,000 to over 165,000 classrooms.

What is of more concern is the condition of existing classrooms. Of roughly 329,000 school buildings across the country, more than a third have already passed their prescribed 25-year lifespan.

The current challenge, thus, is structural and two-layered. On one hand, there is a quantitative backlog of classrooms and on the other, the physical deterioration of existing structures. Projections indicate that over 50,000 classrooms could be phased out by 2028 as they reach their 50-year mark, further tightening already constrained capacity.

In this context, modular construction becomes a potential necessity rather than a novel alternative. It enables the delivery of safe and stable learning environments that will enhance student comfort, focus and overall educational experience.

The big question still remains whether such systems can be scaled quickly enough – and at a cost structure viable for government procurement – to make a significant cut in the current deficit. With most infrastructure solutions, execution and its consistency will ultimately determine whether these early demonstrations translate into sustained impact.

For the time being, the alignment of government policy and innovations in infrastructure offers a cautiously optimistic signal that the gaps in classroom availability, while still overwhelming, may no longer be as persistent as they once seemed.

Chua is chairman and chief executive officer of Premium Megastructures Inc., which specializes in land developments, reclamations, construction of roads, ports, airports and bridges all over the Philippines.

He gained prominence more than a year ago with his P510-million acquisition of two-thirds of investment holding company Asiabest Group International Inc. or ABG, formerly the AGP Industrial Corp. from Tiger Resorts Asia Ltd., in which he integrated all of his various business interests in infrastructure, shipping, logistics, real estate development, mining, manufacturing and further into the future – robotics and technology – into another business entity, the Premium Lands Corp (PLC).

Engineer Chua’s first big project involved the construction of a road in Guiuan, Eastern Samar, which he bid for under the first package of the US-funded Millennium Challenge Corp. project in Samar in 2012 even though his company was competing against more established and well-known construction firms.

His local knowledge of the province of Leyte was an advantage as he knew the terrain of the province more than any of his competitors. He still encountered difficulties in completing the project, but learned an invaluable lesson by adapting his approach.

From construction, he became a supplier and logistics provider (resulting in the shipping, maritime logistics and delivery services business under another company – the Industry Movers Corp.) for the rest of the construction firms that successfully won the other package of the Samar road building project. He eventually gained the friendship of his competitors instead of their ire, which helped him expand and grow his businesses.

Another project he also participated in was the construction of the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway or CCLEX undertaken by the joint venture of Spain-based Acciona Construccion S.A, First Balfour Inc. and D.M. Consunji, and was an unsolicited public-private partnership project proposed by the Pangilinan-led Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. Chua provided logistical and aggregate material support for the construction of the bridge. It also led to the continued collaboration of PMI with Acciona to this day.

Among his bold plans are his participation in the Asian Development Bank’s ambitious five-year construction of the 32-kilometer Bataan-Cavite Interlink Bridge, mainly as an aggregates supplier and logistics provider. The ADB-funded bridge project will connect the province of Cavite to Bataan.

With the interlink bridge connection, Chua plans to develop the Bataan Freeport through his own 235-hectare Bataan Transshipment Hub project at an initial cost of $1.8 billion, which will create a strong economic corridor and trade hub comprising the National Capital Region, Region III and Region IV-A, more commonly known as Calabarzon.

Engineer Chua revealed that part of his long-term plans for the Bataan Transshipment Hub may involve a joint venture with India’s Adani Group. He explained that he had reached out to several foreign business groups from Dubai and Abu Dhabi, but so far only the Adani Group has expressed interest in “a deal both parties are eyeing.”

CSC is already into socialized housing, offering a precast construction option for low-cost houses under the Kabalayan brand, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of PLC.