Public schools in Central Visayas lack 10K classrooms — DepEd 7

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Public schools in Central Visayas are currently facing a shortage of 10,000 classrooms, the Department of Education (DepEd) Region 7 said.

The update followed the opening of academic year 2026-2027 on Monday, June 8, where the agency projected around 1.6 million students to enroll across the region.

Tomas Pastor, chief of the Education Support Services Division, said public schools in Cebu account for the largest deficit, with the province lacking 8,287 classrooms as of this report.

In Bohol, including Tagbilaran City, schools also face a shortage of 1,713 classrooms.

“This is what we want to address [using] the 2026 budget,” Pastor said in an interview.

DepEd earlier secured a record allocation of P1.015 trillion under the 2026 General Appropriations Act.

READ: Classroom shortage: Bam wants to tap LGUs, NGOs in addressing issue

During the “Usapang Budget Natin” Forum on February, DepEd Assistant Secretary Edson Byron Sy disclosed that P51.45 billion had been allocated for the Central Visayas office.

The budget is intended to improve school facilities and reinforce personnel capacity in the region.

School repairs continue

Amid the classroom shortage, Pastor said some schools in Cebu are still undergoing rehabilitation after sustaining damage from Typhoon Tino and the magnitude 6.9 earthquake last year.

Some disaster-affected schools, particularly in the northern part of the province, continue to operate under alternative learning arrangements as repair works remain ongoing.

Pastor said several schools have adopted shifting schedules, with students attending either morning or afternoon classes, to make the most of limited classroom space.

“Sa usa ka eskwelahan, for example, naa lang siyay duha ka classroom irepair, [so] possible na mag adjust lang siya sa number of learners in a class. Or if dako iyang need [irepair], pwede ra nato ishift into two: morning and afternoon,” Pastor said.

(In one school, for example, if only two classrooms need repairs, it may simply adjust the number of learners per class. But if a larger portion of the school requires rehabilitation, we can implement a shifting schedule, with classes held in the morning and afternoon.)

To ensure learning continues despite reduced classroom capacity, schools have focused on delivering essential learning competencies, according to DepEd 7.

READ: DepEd rolls out classroom leasing to address problem on shortage

The regional office has yet to release data on the number of schools that remain under repair following last year’s disasters.

Student-teacher ratio

Amid classroom shortages and ongoing rehabilitation efforts, DepEd 7 said schools in the region continue to follow standard teacher-to-student ratios to manage class sizes and staffing needs.

Dr. Helen D. Sabino, chief of the Policy, Planning and Research Division of DepEd 7, said kindergarten classes are ideally limited to 20 to 25 learners, while Grades 1 to 3 should have around 30 to 35 students in one classroom.

For Grades 4 to 10, DepEd follows a standard of 40 to 45 learners per class under its planning guidelines for public schools.

The agency said the staffing standards help schools maintain adequate teacher distribution, especially amid shortage of facilities.

Information officer Amaryllis Villarmia said the region recorded a 96.86-percent personnel filling rate as of May 16, 2026, with 68,255 occupied positions across teaching, teaching-related, and non-teaching jobs.

Stable number of enrollees

Meanwhile, the agency projected around 1.6 million enrollees for this academic year, based on last year’s enrollment figures.

Prior to the official opening of classes, preliminary data showed that about 1.3 million learners had already enrolled.

Villarmia said  the enrollment figure is expected to increase as schools continue to process and consolidate reports from across the region.

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