Source: Philippine Star, 22 February 2012
MANILA (Xinhua) — To help meet the country’s need for enrolling more pupils and students, the Philippines is to build 30, 000 classrooms this year through the Public-Private Partnership ( PPP), a key scheme proposed by the Philippine government, an educational official said Wednesday.
The first batch of new classrooms, around 9,332 of the total, will be bidded out on June 29, Philippine Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Armin Luistro told reporters Wednesday.
The DepEd expects the second and third batches of classrooms to be bidded out in the second half of the year so that construction for the third batch of classrooms can begin in January next year. Bidders are a mix of international and local companies including listed firms, he added.
The Philippine Public-Private Partnership for School Infrastructure Project (PSIP) involves the construction of 30,000 new classrooms in select regions. It is initially estimated to cost around 10.4 billion pesos (243.9 million U.S. dollars).
The first phase of the project will be undertaken in Calabarzon region in north Philippines. Around 9,332 classrooms are expected to be constructed in identified areas in the regions selected.
