Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Sonny Angara on Wednesday stressed anew the importance of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) to fill the gaps in both classroom constructions and digitalization in the country’s education sector.

“The classroom gap is a massive challenge, but we believe that leveraging private investments through PPPs is the most efficient and sustainable way to address this,” he said in a statement.

Angara has earlier presented the DepEd’s plan to construct 15,000 classrooms by 2027 during a meeting with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.

The project, which will be implemented under the PPP School Infrastructure Project (PSIP 3), will benefit more than 600,000 learners and will open job opportunities to 18,000 Filipinos nationwide.

The PSIP 3’s cost ranges from PHP37.5 billion to PHP60 billion, he added.

The DepEd is also eyeing to scale up the said project through PSIP 4 and PSIP 5, with target constructions of up to 30,000 and 60,000 classrooms, respectively.

To date, the country has around 165,000 classroom backlogs.

Angara also assured plans to enable the DepEd to keep up with the administration’s digitalization targets with the help of PPP.

“With a combination of strategic partnerships and digital investments, DepEd is committed to bridging both the classroom and digital divides to create a future-ready education system producing competitive and highly employable graduates,” he said.

The DepEd’s digitalization plan includes the distribution of tablets for learners and laptops for teachers; the provision of electricity supply to unenergized schools; and low earth orbit (LEO) satellite internet connectivity for schools with no connections in mid-2026. (PNA)