Classroom safety concerns await pupils in parts of Pangasinan

When they start school June 1, many pupils may face safety concerns ranging from dilapidated classrooms to aging – or even condemned – school buildings.

In Pangasinan, such concerns were raised over some school buildings in Binalonan town that are near 40 years old, GMA Dagupan reported.

These include the school structures being weakened by termites, but still have to be used as there are not enough classrooms.

The Department of Education is trying to address this by having schools built under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) program.

Citing figures from the Department of Education Pangasinan II division, the report said some 60 out of 600 schools have classroom-related problems.

Some buildings have been deemed condemned by the DepEd and are scheduled for demolition.

For now, heads of these schools had to make decisions on how to maximize the space available in the schools.

"May dalawa kaming ide-demolish na classroom, kaya ang gagamitin muna nila yung social hall," said San Nicolas National High School principal Lolit Luzano. — Joel Locsin/LBG, GMA News