Philippines Department of Education completes 391 disaster-resilient classrooms

The Philippine Department of Education (DepEd) has completed 391 prefabricated school buildings, known as Learning Continuity Spaces (LCS), to address the national classroom shortage. An additional 150 units are currently under construction, with 878 more planned across the first two phases of the program.

These modular structures are designed for rapid deployment, taking between four to eight weeks to build. Each LCS unit features a flexible layout containing two to five classrooms, three toilets, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) facilities, including rainwater harvesting provisions. The buildings are engineered to withstand winds of up to 250 km/h and meet earthquake standards for the country’s most seismically active regions. They are also designed to remain cool and naturally lit to mitigate the impact of extreme heat.

Education Secretary Sonny Angara stated that the initiative is a response to President Bongbong Marcos’ call for rapid action. Despite these completions, DepEd reports a significant national classroom backlog of 165,000 units.