There is a shortage of 6,298 classrooms in Negros Island Region’s public schools, a Department of Education spokesperson said Tuesday, June 24.
This is based on the DepEd NIR data for school year 2025 – 2026, its spokesperson Almyr Caezar Dequiña said.
There is also a shortage of 877 public school teachers in the NIR, he added.
This shortage is smaller than in other regions and they are fast tracking the hiring of teachers, Dequiña said.
The lack of classrooms is being addressed by maximizing other spaces, and adopting shifting schedules for classes, he said.
“We are doing everything we can in order to address the problem,” Dequiña said.
The number of enrollees in the NIR has so far reached 88.02 percent of the target.
There were 1,295,463 K to 12 learners enrolled in the NIR as of Monday, June 23, Dequiña said.
They are hoping to achieve 100 percent of their target, he said, with enrollment ending on June 30 yet.
The target is about 1.3 million learners in the NIR this school year.*