The Department of Education (DepEd) has led the groundbreaking ceremony for the country’s first 12-storey medium-rise public school building, according to a report of GMA News Online. 

The school building will rise at the Don Vicente Rama Memorial National High School (DVRMNHS) in Cebu City.

According to DepEd, the building will feature 42 classrooms, nine workshops, an audiovisual room, library, clinic, and fully equipped laboratories for home economics, computer studies, chemistry, and biology.

The report cited that the building is also designed to withstand natural disasters.

Once completed, DepEd said, it can accommodate about 2,000 learners in a single shift, and can cater to more students who wish to enroll in special programs and senior high school. 

Education Secretary Sonny Angara described the modern facility as a “symbol of hope.”

“Sa 4,000 students na nandito, makakauwi na nang maaga ‘yung kalahati doon. At masusundan pa itong building na ito,” Angara said in a statement.

Further, the report said that DepEd is currently working on the construction of 105,000 classrooms to address the perennial classroom shortage in the country. 

It is beginning with a 15,000-classroom package currently being processed this year through Public-Private Partnership (PPP).