Thousands of students in two public schools in Quezon City and Pampanga are in high spirits these days. After getting used to holding classes in cramped and humid makeshift classrooms, they now see a glimmer of hope.

The Judge Feliciano Belmonte Senior High School (JFBSHS) in Quezon City and the Francisco G. Nepomuceno Memorial National High School (FGNMNHS) in Pampanga recently received modern multi-storey school buildings from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR).

FGNMNHS, which is the biggest secondary public school in Angeles City with a student population of close to 6,000, received a four-storey, 24-classroom school building from PAGCOR while the JFBSHS in Quezon City received a four-storey, 16-classroom school building.

Both schools have severe classroom shortage that implementing morning and afternoon shifts as well as sharing classrooms with another section is no longer unusual.

Grade 11 Ferlin Gonzales is just one of thousands of students in JFBSHS who attended classes in cramped makeshift classrooms since she was in the seventh grade. Now that she is in Senior High, she is extremely happy that she and her classmates will be occupying the new PAGCOR building. “We were very excited to go to school when we learned that our batch would occupy the new PAGCOR building. Bukod sa bago at maganda, komportable din dito at hindi mainit. Mas makakapag-focus ka sa lessons,” she shared.

PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Andrea D. Domingo who led the formal turn-over of the multi-storey building to JFBSHS recently, underscored the importance of having classrooms that are conducive to learning to help public school students excel in their class.

"We are very elated that we are now finally turning over your 16-classroom building so you can have less students in one classroom and have longer hours of study because that is what is needed to have a good citizenry, a good government and a good country that develops faster than the other countries around us," Chairman Domingo said.

The PAGCOR chief explained that while addressing classroom shortage in public schools is essential, it is also important to look after the health and welfare of the less privileged Filipinos. “The shift now is to go into health because we believe that healthy studentry can afford to be an intelligent population. So starting this semester and next year, we will be looking after the health needs of our people as mandated by President Rodrigo Duterte,” she added.

The PAGCOR chief however noted that although the new administration’s focus is now geared towards health services, PAGCOR will still continue with its educational programs.

During the turn-over rites, JFBSHS Principal Zaida Padullo could not help but be overjoyed by the blessings that their school received from PAGCOR and its partner agencies. “For the past five years, ang mga classrooms namin dito ay hinahati para magkasya ang dalawang sections ng sabay. Now that we have the PAGCOR building, many of our students already enjoy whole day classes,” she said.

Padullo added that because of the new PAGCOR building, their school is now able to meet the requirements needed to launch Grade 11 under DepEd’s K-12 Program.

“Many schools here in Quezon City were not able to implement K-12 in full swing because of lack of classrooms. We are very lucky because here in JFBSHS, we were able to offer both academic and technical vocational courses that are covered under the Grade 11 curriculum,” Padullo said.

Meanwhile, FGNMNHS Principal Estrelita Lecaros is also grateful that their school received another school building from PAGCOR. It was the second time that FGNMNHS received a four-storey, 24-classroom building from PAGCOR. The first donation was in May 2014. But due to increasing enrollment every year and the full implementation of K-12’s Senior High School program, the FGNMNHS finds itself in constant need for more classrooms.

PAGCOR implements the school building project together with its partners – the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). To date, the state-run gaming firm has allotted a total of P12 billion for its school building program. Of this amount, a total of 3,084 classrooms in 597 sites nationwide have been completed while close to 2,000 classrooms in 216 sites are under construction. Thousands more classrooms are undergoing procurement and evaluation.

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