The government’s economic and development authority board has given the green light to the ₱30.56-billion project aimed at enhancing the safety and resilience of schools, which will involve rehabilitating and reconstructing infrastructure damaged by calamities outside Metro Manila.
Malacañang said in a statement Wednesday that the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board, chaired by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., approved the project that will be funded by the Official Development Assistance (ODA) loan from the World Bank-International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
It will be implemented by the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
Of the total project cost, ₱27.50 billion will be from the loan proceeds, while the remaining will be from the national government.
The ISRS Project, to be implemented from 2025 to 2029, involves the repair, rehabilitation, retrofitting, and reconstruction of school facilities outside National Capital Region, which were damaged by various disasters between 2019 and 2023.
It is expected to benefit 1,282 schools, 4,756 school buildings, 13,101 classrooms, and 741,038 learners.
Among the project components include Relatively Simple Works for School Infrastructure Recovery and Operations and Maintenance with a Php9.65 billion allocation and Relatively Complex Works for School Infrastructure Recovery with Php19.81 billion budget.
Another component will be Project Management, Monitoring, and Evaluation with Php1.1 billion budget allocation.
The project aims to build classrooms that will be better in case of future hazard events in order to ensure functional continuity of the educational system and reduce disruptions in learning.
