Architecture prize for Danish social housing

project
A BL member expands the approach of social
housing in Copenhagen
Copenhagen, 31 January 2018 | Social, Urban

Danish social housing association, Lejerbo- a member of

Housing Europe's Danish member organisation, BL- just got
awarded the Lille Arne’ prize by the Danish Association of
Architects. The award goes to praises architecture that combines
high-quality buildings with quality outdoor areas.
 

By Kristoffer Friis Sørensen*

Lejerbo received the prize for 65 social housing units finished last year in
the northwestern part of Copenhagen together with BIG, Bjarke Ingels
Group and Gehl Architects which is world-known for their urban design
thinking.
The prize is named after the Danish architect Arne Jacobsen and this is
the first year a ‘Lille Arne’ award has gone to a strategy as well as a built
project. The ambition of the strategy was to expand the approach of
social housing in Copenhagen. The principles underline the
importance of creating space for life that encourages a vibrant public life
where residents can meet. Something Danes always have strived for in
the creation of new social housing areas.

At a time when many projects are being realized in Copenhagen, it is

even more important to prioritize quality at the right places in every
project. This strategy was to be used as a tool to capture the importance
of always ensuring quality and dialogue with stakeholders. The strategy
also acknowledged the need for maintenance and good materials that
can properly meet people’s daily needs.

“We have a strategy for not only building housing but homes at eye level
for the people who are living in them” said Jan Hyttel, the Chair of
Lejerbo Copenhagen at the award ceremony.

4. Samuel Mockbee and the Rural Studio / 1993-present / Community Based Design,

Innovation and Empowerment

Save this picture!

Rural Studio - Glass Chapel - 2000. Image © Timothy Hursley
“Everyone, rich or poor, deserves a shelter for the soul, … architects should lead in procuring social
and environmental change”  - Samuel Mockbee

+ 25
Founded by Samuel “Sambo” Mockbee and D.K. Ruth, Rural Studio projects bring design
and material innovation to charitable works. As part of the Auburn University architecture
program, students collaborate on the design and construction of housing and community
facilities in Hale County, Alabama.
Salvages or recycled materials are the studio’s trademark: 72,000 surplus carpet tiles for
walls of a home, worn out tires for chapel walls, a glazed roof of tiled Chevy windshields. In
many projects, local vernacular melds effortlessly with contemporary design. 

The program continued on after Mockbee passed away in 2001.

Check out more on public interest design here, or read about its heightened role after the
economic meltdown.
This list is far from comprehensive: who are other early pioneers that improved lives through
designing the built environment?

Works Cited

School Congestion in the Philippines: A

Breakthrough Solution
April 5, 2017
By Nicholas Jones

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Each June, over 21 million elementary and high school students start a new school year
in the Philippines, and almost 4 million of them, or 18 percent of the entire student
population, will be forced to attend extremely overcrowded public schools. In urban
areas, some classes hold over 100 students—well beyond the Department of
Education’s (DepEd) prescribed 45 students per class. While the contentious K-12
education reform efforts led by former President Aquino are taking shape, the long-
running issue of congestion has largely been dismissed, until recently.
18 percent of the entire student population in the Philippines are forced to attend extremely overcrowded public
schools. Photo/DepEd

Studies show that overcrowded classroom conditions not only make it difficult for
students to concentrate on their lessons, but inevitably limit the amount of time teachers
can spend on innovative teaching methods such as cooperative learning and group
work or on teaching anything beyond the bare minimum required by the curriculum. On
top of this, teachers in congested classrooms are generally over-stretched, more likely
to suffer from burnout, or have a more strained relationship with their pupils.
Despite the shortage of space for many students at public schools in the Philippines, the
DepEd had never attempted to purchase land for new school sites for several reasons.
Up until our intervention in 2014, there was a long-held belief by some in the DepEd that
school properties should not be purchased, but rather donated by either the local
government or private individuals and organizations. Instead, the DepEd focused on
constructing additional classrooms at existing school sites. To counteract the widening
student-classroom ratio, the DepEd developed and implemented a wide range of
strategies that were often seen as controversial, including: splitting classrooms in two
using wall dividers; dividing the classes—even at the elementary level—into morning,
afternoon, and evening sessions; and encouraging students to take distance-learning
classes.
Unfortunately, these stopgap solutions did not solve the problem, and the learning
environment in congested public schools continued to deteriorate. To make matters
worse, land donations to the DepEd have gradually decreased over the years with the
steady rise of land value. Without new land to expand existing sites or establish new
schools, there has been no place to build additional classrooms. In fact, it was
only after the budget for classrooms increased significantly in 2011 (under President
Aquino) did the scarcity of land become more apparent.
In 2014, The Australian Embassy in Manila and The Asia Foundation, through
its Coalitions for Change (CfC) program, began an initiative to find a more long-term
solution to school congestion in the Philippines. It became clear that land shortage was
the most critical and prevalent issue for schools in urban areas, particularly in Metro
Manila. The solution seemed straightforward, but initial investigations were met by the
complex realities of bureaucratic reform. Some officials strongly believed it was the role
of local governments to provide land for new schools. There were also worries of
potential legal risks if the land being purchased had questionable ownership or adverse
claims—a common occurrence in the Philippines.
Coalitions for Change is predicated on advancing reforms that are technically sound as
well as politically feasible, so the team met with a broad range of stakeholders to better
understand the problem and identify potential reform champions. The team then
assembled an informal coalition within the DepEd, civil society, and Congress and
began briefing key legislators on the nature of the problem and garnering support for the
reform.
These efforts eventually paid off. In 2015, the national budget included a special
provision for the DepEd to acquire land for new schools, raising the budget for land-
related issues from a modest $1.3 million in 2014 to $8.2 million in 2015. In January
2016, the DepEd was able to successfully acquire a 2,500-sqm property in Novaliches,
Quezon City. Based on DepEd estimates, the new school site can hold 60 new
classrooms to accommodate 2,700 students from overcrowded schools—an average of
45 students per classroom, the recommended number.
According to existing records, the acquisition of the Novaliches property was the first
purchase of its kind in Philippine history. One of CfC’s primary goals is to introduce
reforms that can be sustained and institutionalized. Armed with the experience of
purchasing the first parcel and clear procedural guidelines, the DepEd managed to
acquire seven new parcels in 2016 that can accommodate over 20,000 students from
nearby crowded schools.
While there is a long way to go in addressing school congestion nationwide, the DepEd
is now equipped with the policy, knowledge, and financial resources to expand existing
schools or build new schools, thus improving the learning environment for elementary
and high school students in urban areas of the Philippines.
Nicholas Jones is an assistant program officer for The Asia Foundation’s Economic
Reform and Development Entrepreneurship unit in the Philippines. The views and
opinions expressed here are those of the author and not those of The Asia Foundation
or its funders.
RELATED LOCATIONS: Philippines
RELATED PROGRAMS: Development and Aid Effectiveness, Strengthen Governance
RELATED TOPICS: Coalitions for Change

Number of dropouts coming back

to school increasing – DepEd
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Published May 25, 2019, 3:51 PM

By Merlina Hernando-Malipot

The Department of Education (DepEd) said that the number of school dropouts who come back
to school has been steadily increasing due to the implementation of the K to 12 Program.
Department of Education (MANILA BULLETIN)

“A positive trend that we would like to note is that the K to 12 enrollment data points to the
attraction of school dropouts to come back to school, contrary to the initial prediction of those
who oppose the K to 12 that the introduction of the two years of senior high school will cause a
further dropping out of our learners,” said DepEd Undersecretary and Chief of Staff
Nepomuceno Malaluan.

The report was made when DepEd reported its performance and expenditures during the Joint
Congressional Oversight Committee on Public Expenditures recently sponsored by the
Committee on Appropriations and the Committee on Basic Education and Culture at the House
of Representatives.

“Since we started senior high school in 2016, there has been a doubling of those who have
returned to school, from the 2015 figure of 158,000 learners to 370,000 learners in 2016,”
Malaluan explained.

Chaired by House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and San Jose Del Monte City
Representative Florida Robes, the meeting specifically aimed to assess the performance and
expenditures of DepEd from Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 to the first quarter of 2019.
The meeting also covered the DepEd’s FY 2020 budget proposal.

Report on public school system

Malaluan presented a brief situationer on the public school system, highlighting the total
number of public and private schools nationwide, enrollment data, dropout and participation
rates, inputs delivery, teacher to learner ratio, classroom to learner ratio, and the provision of
support to learners for FYs 2016 to 2018.

When it comes to the priority directions for FY 2020 to 2022, Malaluan shared that DepEd’s
goals are to address remaining access gaps, pivot from access to quality, and modernize
education management and governance.

“DepEd is looking to pivot from focusing on access to education to quality of education,”

Malaluan said. Like other countries in the region, he noted that DepEd is “now looking to
entrench quality learning through three important steps: by aligning competencies and
curriculum standards, instruction, and assessment; by developing outstanding teachers and
school leaders; and by ensuring that students come to school ready to learn.”

Malaluan noted that DepEd’s initiative on the last mile schools program, enhancement of the
Alternative Learning System (ALS), establishment of schools in barangays without elementary
schools and in areas with limited secondary schools, and continuing of the school-based
feeding program are ongoing access interventions undertaken by the department.

Quality

Under the directions of Secretary Leonor Briones, Malaluan said that the review of the
curriculum is in place in terms of interventions for quality. When it comes to upgrading
professional development of teachers and school leaders, he noted that DepEd is “now
embarking on the transformation” of our National Educators Academy of the Philippines
(NEAP).

“We are institutionalizing government-industry-education sector coordination and partnership

and we will continue to improve the teaching and learning environment at the school level,”
Malaluan said.

Funds

Meanwhile, Undersecretary for Finance Service and Education Programs Delivery Unit Annalyn
Sevilla also discussed the 2016 to 2018 status of funds of major programs, activities, and
projects particularly on textbooks, Science and Math equipment, Technical-Vocational-
Livelihood (TVL) Education, computerization, and school building programs.

Sevilla pointed out that Personnel Services for “our teachers comprise the highest proportion of
2018 and 2019 funds, but substantial investments are allotted for programs and infrastructure.”
Philippine education?
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Published May 18, 2019, 10:44 PM

By Merlina Hernando-Malipot

Reforms from basic to tertiary level have been constantly shaping the state of Philippine
education.

To date, two of the most significant educational reforms in the country are the continued
implementation of the K to 12 Program and the free higher education.

However, some groups and stakeholders expressed concern on issues that might indicate the
current state of the country’s education.

School Year (SY) 2019-2020 officially opens on June 3 in all public schools.

Private schools may deviate from this schedule as long as they do not start classes earlier than
the first Monday of June and not later than the last day of August.

Education Secretary Leonor Briones said that DepEd has been monitoring the “readiness” of
schools to ensure a smooth and orderly opening of classes.

DepEd also expressed readiness for the school opening by holding its annual school
maintenance activity or the “Brigada Eskwela” and the “Oplan Balik Eskwela” (OBE).

A teachers’ federation warned that the same old problems will still hound this year’s school
opening.

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) expressed concern that the opening of classes this SY
2019-2020 will be bombarded with the “perennial” problems of the previous school openings.

“The 2019 school opening is most likely to be welcomed with shortages on the number of
teachers, education support personnel, instructional materials, and facilities,” ACT Secretary
General Raymond Basilio told the Manila Bulletin.

Despite these concerns, DepEd Undersecretary and Spokesperson Annalyn Sevilla assured that
the department continues to find ways in order to address these within the capacity and
capability of the department.

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has nothing but praises for the increased funding
for higher education “at levels that no administration has ever done in the past.”
The Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education (UAQTEA), CHED Chairman J. Prospero De
Vera III said, has benefitted some 1.3 million students in public universities and more than
100,000 students in private universities.

This coming academic year, CHED has enjoined all State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) and
Local Colleges and Universities (LUCs) “to synchronize its respective Academic Year (AY) to a
Fiscal Year (FY) starting FY 2019” and to “ensure that starting FY 2020, all SUCs and LUCs have
synchronized their academic year to a fiscal year.”

The Commission also beefs up its internationalization and facilitating linkages with other
universities.

‘Red flags’

For advocacy group Philippine Business for Education (PBEd), while change has come for
Philippine education it is “but only passably so.”

While PBED lauded the expanding access to education across all levels, it also stressed the
“importance of focusing on actual learning” in the context of the global economy.

“With the steady increase in education spending, teacher and classroom gaps have begun to
close, and more children are going to and staying in schools,” PBED said.

“Thus, the Filipino workforce is becoming increasingly educated,” it added.

Despite the implementation of the K to 12 curriculum designed to “provide a holistic education

for all Filipino students,” PBED said the “learning outcomes tell a different story.”

This is because early childhood comprehension remains poor, “with more than a third of
Filipino children scoring zero on both reading and listening.”

PBED noted that achievement scores for both elementary and secondary levels “have also
stalled at 59%, well below the 77% national target” – similarly, passing rates at licensure
examination disciplines barely reach the target passing rate.

PBED chairman Ramon del Rosario, Jr. said the country has “yet to translate the country’s
successes into actual learning — the kind that prepares our people for the global economy and
the challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.”

Filipino graduates, he added, “lack the skills demanded by industry and the Philippines has one
of the highest rates of youth unemployment” in Asia.

Citing latest data from the International Labour Organization, he noted that 21.7 percent of
youth in the Philippines “is not in education, employment or training” as of 2017.

“This goes back to the poor learning that happens in our schools as evidenced by low scores in
the National Achievement Test and although there are noble efforts to arrest these trends, they
are at best sporadic and in grave need of coordination,” Del Rosario added.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) also released a study in November 2018 noting that
Filipino families are “most deprived” in education. The multidimensional poverty statistics was
based on a Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) across the four dimensions of Education;
Housing, Water and Sanitation Dimension; Health and Nutrition; and Employment.

In its release entitled, “Filipino Families Are Most Deprived in Education” PSA noted that “six out
of 10 families in 2016 and five out of 10 families in 2017 were deprived of basic education” and
that “six out of 10 families had at least one family member aged 18 years old and above who
did not complete basic education in 2016 and five out of 10 in 2017.”

DepEd argued that the “parameters used for the education dimension of poverty have a
tendency to mislead the public and other stakeholders on the current state of access to
education.”

DepEd Undersecretary and Spokesperson Atty. Nepomuceno Malaluan added that the “effect of
the historical lack of access in decades past expressed through the educational attainment indi-
cator becomes the overriding determinant for educational deprivation, and the conclusion
tends to overlook the historical progress and the current level of access to education.”

In a recent forum also organized by the PBED, Synergeia Foundation CEO and President Dr.
Nene Guevara said that there is an “ongoing reading crisis” in the country.

Citing results from a study which covered Grades 1 to 6 students over 90 local government
units nationwide, she revealed that “prior to any reading intervention” – there were 53 percent
frustrated readers and 23 percent independent readers for the school year 2017.

Guevara furthered that 23% of the subjects “could not comprehend” and seven percent “could
not read at all.” She also noted that some teachers in public schools are not “competent
readers” which is among the factors why many Filipino students couldn’t read properly.

Some teachers also decry that because of “so much work,” they barely have time to teach.
Under the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers, teachers are required to devote up to “six
hours of actual teaching per day.”

According to the study conducted by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS)
entitled “Pressures on Public School Teachers and Implications on Quality,” teachers are given
administrative or student support role such as paper works, seminars, training workshops,
among others.

Thus, the DepEd is urged to review its policy on the workload of public school teachers.
Moving forward

DepEd acknowledges that there are still challenges that need to be addressed despite the
educational reforms being initiated.
Sevilla said that these concerns and challenges are the reasons why the department is currently
“reviewing” the K to 12 Program as well as the provisions of the Magna Carta for Public School
Teachers.

“We are now adjusting our direction since we’re done with the access and now we want to focus
on quality,” Sevilla said.

“Tapos na kami sa problema sa access – walang problema sa access o sa mga eskwelahan na

malapit sa ating mga pamayanan dahil bawat barangay ay meron ng elementary at ang aming
tinitingnan ay ang ating secondary schools,” she ended.

PRIORITIZING THE
DEVELOPMENT OF THE LAST
MILE SCHOOLS IN 2020-2021:
REACHING OUT AND
CLOSING THE GAP
Among the indicators used in identifying a school as among the Last Mile Schools are as
follows:

a. Having less than four classrooms;

b. With makeshift or nonstandard rooms;

c. Absence of electricity;

d. Have not been allocated funds for repairs or new construction projects in the last four
years;
e. With travel distance of more than one hour from town center, or with difficulty of
terrain;

f. Having multigrade classes/rooms;

g. With less than five teachers;

h. Having a student population of less than 100 learners; and

i. With more than 75% Indigenous People (IP) learners.

The Information and Communications Technology Service (ICTS), Planning Service

(PS), and the Administrative Service-Education Facilities Division (AS-EFD) are
directed to identify the schools that will fall under the final list of Last Mile Schools
using all available data, such as from the Enhanced Basic Education Information System
(EBEIS), reports from the field, the ongoing Nationwide Baseline Survey, and other
applicable data and information. The list will also be validated by EFD Engineers and
Architects, and Disaster Risk and Reduction (DRRM) coordinators. The validated list
will then be presented to the Executive Committee (ExeCom) for approval.

DepEd, through its bureaus, services, schools divisions, and offices, shall jointly plan
and implement programs, projects, and activities that address the needs of the Last Mile
Schools, such as:

a. Building of classrooms to address the minimum of four instructional rooms as

standard for every school;

b. Replacement of makeshift and nonstandard classrooms into standard ones;

c. Construction of a two-story Administration and Climate Change Emergency Storage

and Shelter (ACCESS) building for every school to provide rooms for Library, Faculty
Room, Principal’s Office, Clinic and Guidance Room, and/or Computer/Technology-
Vocational-Livelihood (TVL)/Science Laboratory, and as Emergency Storage for school
equipment, tools, supplies and materials in case of calamities;

d. Provision of needed standard school furniture;

e. Installation of solar panels to energize the unenergized schools;

f. Processing of land ownership papers and documents;

g. Delivery and installation of DepEd Computerization Program (DCP) packages;

h. Connection of the school to the DepEd Network and Internet;

i. Deployment of learning and administrative systems;

j. Feeding of all learners under the School-Based Feeding Program (SBFP);

k. Provision of Oplan Kalusugan sa DepEd (OK sa DepEd) services;

l. Provision of potable water through deep wells, rump pumps, filtration equipment,
among other facilities;

m. Provision of funds for Gulayan sa Paaralan (GPP) program;

n. Provision of funds for School Inside a Garden (SIGA) program;

o. Training of student-leaders and teacher-advisers;

p. Provision of teaching and learning materials;

q. Provision of TVL, Science and Mathematics equipment;

r. Provision of additional teachers and training of existing teachers;

s. Provision of nonteaching personnel for administrative and financial transactions;

t. Provision of the necessary, appropriate, and timely capacity-building for the personnel
in the discharge of tasks and functions related to records management, asset
management, cash management, and general services;

u. Determination and recommendation of the appropriate budgetary requirements to

support the operations of the schools;
v. Engagement of external partners for goods/services that DepEd cannot provide, such
as construction/rehabilitation/painting of fence, school gate, stage, multipurpose hall,
among others;

w. Study the applicability of alternative procurement processes and alternative building

materials to conform with the terrain and remoteness of the Last Mile Schools; and,

x. Work for partnerships with the different agencies of government, including Local
Government Units (LGUs).

DepEd, in all governance levels, shall exer

"Learning conditions are almost always much worse for the disadvantaged, and so are
learning outcomes," it added.
 
Based on 2003 World Bank data, students in the Philippines scored below average on
internationally comparable tests despite the East Asia region being the home to seven
out of 10 most successful education systems in the world.
 
Schools in the Philippines that served poorer students also received a smaller share of
their intended allocation than schools serving wealthier students.
 
"The Philippines recently embarked on an ambitious education reform backed up with
significant increases in public investment," the lender said in its report, referring to the
shift to the K-12 curriculum.
 
"Despite a 19-fold increase in the infrastructure budget between 2005 and 2015, lack
of government capacity to manage such a massive school building program has meant
that a large share of the resources remained unspent," it added.
 
Poor parents make difficult choices about whether to educate their children, World
Bank also said in its report, which found that in the Philippines, schooling requires
trade-offs for poor parents.
 
"In most low-income countries, students who have to repeat grades or who exceed the
average age of their classmates by several years are more likely to drop out before
completing primary school," World Bank said.
 
"In the Philippines, a child’s perceived educational ability is a key determinant of
whether parents choose to keep him or her in school, or in the workplace instead," it
added.
Read more at https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/03/15/1797021/wb-sees-
improvements-phl-school-system-problems-remain#ViTQu2icX0yVTeUc.99

Poverty levels are strongly linked to educational attainment. Two-thirds of poor households are headed
by people with only an elementary school education or below. Access to quality education is identified
as a key pathway out of poverty.

Reforming institutions that coordinate poverty policy and implement poverty programs to enhance
coordination, improve efficiency, and reduce corruption; for example a. revising the memorandum of
agreement between the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) and the National Economic and
Development Authority (NEDA) to clarify the coordination roles of each agency; b. incorporating the
specific roles of agencies and key stakeholders at various levels of intervention into a new poverty
framework and plan of action; c. continuing to reform the educational system (through the Basic
Education Sector Reform Agenda), the health system (through Fourmula One) and the social welfare
system; d. engaging nongovernment organizations and civil society sectors to monitor the delivery of
poverty programs and social services;

mapping key stakeholders and their roles in poverty alleviation at all levels of governance; f. examining
the political economy of poverty programs before implementation; and g. strengthening safeguards and
mechanisms against leakage and corruption in large poverty programs (such as, for example, the
Department of Education’s textbook watch and other civil society watchdogs). 3. Considering specific
regional and local characteristics (e.g., risks for disaster or conflict) in poverty program interventions.
Interventions should also take into account factors affecting intraregional inequality, which would imply
equalizing access to quality health, education, and infrastructure services within regions (Balisacan
2003).

Enhance local government capacity and resources for poverty reduction and improve coordination
between national agencies and local government in poverty programs by a. establishing a national
poverty funding mechanism and an incentive system on allocation to better motivate local government
units (LGUs) in the fight against poverty; b. promoting inter-LGU cooperation in implementing
antipoverty programs and projects, including reforms in health care, education, and population
management; c. learning how select local governments have successfully implemented poverty
reduction programs (e.g., Galing Pook awardees Bohol, Concepcion, Iloilo, and Naga City); d. continuing
to advocate for more democratic and people-centered processes at the local levels; e. taking inventory
of the available local poverty indicators, and simplifying local data collection systems; and
lic use files. The NSO gathers non-income poverty indicators as well. These indicators—such as health,
education, population, demographics, and nutrition—are used to track the country’s achievements of
the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Private groups also generate data related to poverty, such
as the Social Weather Stations, which conducts a quarterly survey on self-rated poverty, and the Human
Development

Functional Literacy, Education, and Mass Media Survey National Statistics Office Every 5 years Functional
literacy and socioeconomic characteristics Census of Population and Housing National Statistics Office
Every 5 years Size, composition, and distribution of population

The prospects of abundant employment and educational opportunities are the main attractions of mega
cities such as Metro Manila, which is the most densely populated urban center, with a population of
approximately 13 million. However, the rapid growth exerts tremendous pressure on the infrastructure
and ability of these cities to provide basic services to their growing populations. This has led to
increasing problems of informal settlements, particularly in Metro Manila.

EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT OF HOUSEHOLD HEAD As expected, poverty incidence is correlated with

the educational attainment of the household head (Figure 2). Almost 50% of household heads who did
not complete any formal schooling are poor while only 2% of college graduates have income below the

poverty line. Almost 30% of those who

The Human poverty index (HPI)32 for developing countries measures the proportion of people below a
specified threshold in dimensions of human development: having a long and healthy life, access to
education, and a decent standard of living.

The eight goals are to (1) eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; (2) achieve universal primary
education; (3) promote gender equality; (4) reduce child mortality; (5) improve maternal health; (6)
combat HIV, malaria, and other diseases; (7) ensure environmental

The index considered the dominating effect of rising food prices on poverty during 2003–2006. In
particular, the severity of poverty rose by 17% while the standard of living declined by about 1% over
the period. Deterioration in living standards affected the poorest of the poor the most. Unable to afford
rising food prices, their only option is to reduce spending on items such as health care and children’s
education.
There are many conditions that may trap individuals, groups, and whole economies in poverty. Among
these are social and political conditions such as corruption and kin systems (Bowles et al. 2006). For
instance, inequality in the provinces of the Philippines has been empirically proven to have negatively
affected their growth (Balisacan 2007). Inequality in the country has been rooted historically in the
ownership of land (Corpuz 1997). Corruption has been described as “chronic” in the Philippines and has
been a negative factor for investments. Influences such as networks, role models, beliefs, and
aspirations can also transmit poverty or affluence from generation to generation (Ray 2006). There are
several other factors, including economic, that have affected the poor Filipino’s attempt to escape the
trap: (i) a large household size; (ii) a low educational attainment that deters one from finding a good job,
if any at all; (iii) unavailability, insufficiency, or insecurity of employment; (iv) the rising cost of urban
goods and services, without the corresponding increase in wages, salaries, and income; and (v)
insecurity of land and housing tenure (Guevara 2007).

Key indicators of education in the country also show the increasing difficulty of producing an adequate
number of healthy, skilled and knowledgeable workers (Bautista et al. 2008)
Productive efficiency. When health improves, more output can be produced with any given combination
of skills, physical capital, and technical knowledge. Learning capacity. Health plays an important role in
determining the rate of return on education; well-nourished children are focused, alert, and gain more
from a given amount of education. Creativity. A healthier person is more efficient in producing goods,
services, and new ideas, and hence in his or her ability to innovate. Life expectancy. Increases in life
expectancy have a direct effect on the duration of the productive work of a person.

For building human capital, the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Department of Health (DOH)
are implementing strategic reforms to enhance the delivery of local education and health services in
partnership with local executives and stakeholders in the communities. At the same time, the NAPC, the
National Nutrition Council, the Population Commission, other national agencies, and targeted local
government units implement the Accelerated Hunger Mitigation Program including natural family
planning and responsible parenthood. Asset reforms are anchored in three programs: the
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program for farmers, the Community Mortgage Program for informal
settlers and the urban poor, and the Indigenous People’s Rights Act. All three programs assist the
mentioned sectors in securing property rights for the land they have been settling or tilling over the past

several years. Another set of interventions assist

The READ group will invest Dh1 billion over the next five years

A Dh1-billion project in Ajman will house one of the biggest CBSE schools in the UAE,
a university and a commercial complex. Around 16,000 school and college students will
be accommodated in the new educational complex in Ajman's Al Tallah area after it is
fully developed into a "campus environment".

The READ group, which is part of R-Holding, will invest Dh1 billion over the next five
years to develop the 2.2-million square feet educational and commercial complex.

Sheikh Rashid bin Humaid al Nuaimi, Chairman of the Ajman Municipality and Planning
Department and Chairman of READ, inaugurated the 1 million square feet City School
campus on Monday.

Speaking to Khaleej Times, Imran Khan, chief executive officer, READ, said the facility
would be a major educational hub in Ajman, as the number of students seeking admission
 in schools and colleges has been on the rise. "In the last few years, the population of
Ajman has increased by 1,00,000 to 1,50,000. There has been a growing need for new
admissions. We started the City University College of Ajman (CUCA) in 2012, which
will be relocated to the new spacious campus from its current leased location.

"Now we are starting City School, a CBSE school which is developed with a Dh100
million investment," Khan said.

While the school will accommodate 6,000 students, the university campus will
accommodate 11,000 students with facilities like a hostel, sports grounds and a career
enhancement centre. A Citylife Mall will come up at the complex, Khan added.

Downtown Educational Complex

Location: Oakland

Project Type: 
 Education

PGAdesign completed master planning and construction

documents for this education complex that hosts the Met West
High School, the La Escuelita Elementary School, and a child
development center. With buildings oriented to maximize solar
gain, PGAdesign found an opportunity to create a dynamic,
sustainable landscape design for the schoolyard, play areas, and
other programming elements required by the diverse facilities on a
single campus for the Oakland Unified School District. The
Campus is OUSD’s first Net Zero Campus and owes this in partial
to the layout of the campus.
 The design provides for a basketball court, a multi-purpose playing
field, and an edible schoolyard integrated with water-efficient
irrigation, climate-adapted plants and a cistern to store roof water
for irrigation. Permeable paving as well as on-site stormwater
treatment reduce stormwater run-off. Highly reflective paving
reduces the heat-island effect, making the landscape a sustainable
learning environment.

Certifications
 Collaboration for High Performance Schools Verified, Highest Rating
 Grid Neutral Campus
Awards
 2014 CASH/AIACC Leroy F. Greene Design Award of Excellence
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‘Smart School’ Educational Complex in Irkutsk, Russia
 
by Stanley Collyer
 

Winning entry by CEBRA (image © CEBRA, courtesy Strelka)

Can it be that pedagogues from all over the world will soon be traveling to the far reaches of Siberia
to examine the workings of a school, which not only will be catering to average students, but also
feature a live-in community offering an optimal educational environment for disadvantaged children.
A competition for this ‘model’ school occurred in 2015, and the winning entry came from a team led
by the Danish firm, CEBRA.
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The Ministry of Education has unveiled the Zayed Education Complex in Al Barsha and Al Mizhar
in Dubai at the beginning of the next academic year, pointing out that the capacity of the two
compounds exceeds 7,700 students. The ministry said, in press statements, that the two compounds
will serve the population areas
The Ministry of Education has unveiled the Zayed Education Complex in Al Barsha and Al
Mizhar in Dubai at the beginning of the next academic year, pointing out that the capacity
of the two compounds exceeds 7,700 students. The ministry said in a press statement that
the two compounds will serve the new population areas in Dubai, which is characterized by
high population density, pointing out that the two compounds will provide advanced
educational facilities that match the innovative vision towards the modern Emirati school.

She pointed out that the inauguration of the two compounds comes within the framework
of a comprehensive plan prepared by the establishment of educational complexes with
world-leading specifications, and began the inauguration of the first complex in the tourist
area in Sharjah, the beginning of the current school year.

The Ministry also seeks to provide an attractive learning environment for students, promote
the spirit of belonging to the school and work to strengthen the relationship between the
school and the family, in order to support the educational process and education, away
from the traditional form, to enhance the spirit of belonging to the school students and
their parents. Innovation by creating a catalytic infrastructure with world-class standards.

The Zayed Education Complex in Al Barsha comprises students from the second and third
cycles, and covers an area of 42,663 square meters, with a capacity of 3800 students, and
consists of 69 classrooms and 59 laboratories. The Zayed Complex in Al Mizhar is dedicated
to the second and third loops as well. It covers an area of 40,433 square meters and
accommodates 3,900 students. It consists of 68 classrooms and 62 laboratories.
The Director of Dubai Education Zone, Ghaya Sultan Al Muhairi, confirmed that the Ministry
is moving steadily towards the development of government educational facilities at the level
of Dubai Educational Zone, in accordance with the vision of the contemporary UAE school,
and within a comprehensive plan developed by the Department of Educational Facilities at
the Ministry.

She added that the Ministry's teams have created educational environments that emulate
advanced international standards, characterized by sustainable buildings environmentally
friendly, taking into account the compatibility with the curriculum and requirements of the
curriculum of the UAE school, and provide all means of security and safety, and
commitment to a unified institutional identity, friendly to the people of determination.

Cultural and Educational Complex

Client: Armenian Catholic Community
Date: 2006
Location: Aleppo, Suburbs
Service Type: Buildings
The project is located in the western suburban of the city of Aleppo, on a land of 5.6 hectares.
The project includes the following buildings:
 Kindergarten.
 Elementary school.
 Secondary school.
 Administrative building.
 Sport building.
 Restaurant and swimming pool.
 Religious building.
 Accommodation building.
 Theatre.
Architectural & landscape study: Suradec.

We are...Solution-oriented.
Future-focused. Game
changers.
We design cities, towns, neighborhoods and the individual buildings that contribute to
them. Our goal is to create beautiful places with lasting value for the communities
they serve.

Design is the creative focus of our process — a collaboration that brings together
citizens, economists, engineers, architects, developers, policy makers, government
officials and builders to construct their collective visions for the future.

Our designs build on the unique character and positive qualities of each place.
Working at many scales, we coordinate the design of individual buildings; the public
spaces they help create; the neighborhoods, towns and cities of which they are a part
and the regional culture they celebrate.

We’re committed to protecting the environment, a commitment we fulfill by

incorporating sustainable principles and responsible practices into our own
operations. This responsibility inspires individual actions that enhance health and
foster a continuing commitment to ongoing sustainability.

That is our mission. As individuals and as a team, we have this sense of purpose in
common, and we apply it diligently and passionately to help guide us in defining, with
our clients, the objectives for each project we undertake.

Solutions
To fulfil a child’s right to quality and inclusive lifelong learning, UNICEF works with the
Philippine government and partners to ensure that children are ready for school and
schools are ready for children.

Our aim is to increase access to formal and non-formal learning opportunities for
children and adolescents by strengthening the government's capacity to improve the
quality and relevance of teaching and the learning environment.

UNICEF envisions schools to be a place of convergence of services and programs for

children, including nutrition, disaster risk reduction, and water, sanitation & hygiene.

It is essential that every Filipino child, whatever their circumstance, has access to learning that
offers a quality, inclusive and relevant curriculum.
UNICEF advocates for greater investment in the country’s cognitive capital. With skilled
teachers, engaging educational materials, basic toilets, clean water and hygiene
facilities, children can acquire knowledge and socio-emotional skills they need to thrive.

PROGRESSIVE SCHOOL ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN FOR IMPROVED

LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS
 
At Carbon Design & Architecture, who we are and everything we do incorporates the ideals of
sustainability and added value in the built environment. This modern design approach allows us the
freedom to maintain our tradition of diverse architectural solutions without limiting us to particular
building types or styles.
 
With school design, we put you and your students first. After all, what is sustainability, beauty, and
function when it doesn't cater to its occupants?

Check out Learn more about buildings that teach sustainability and learn how the CSA/Legat
Architects partnership can help you!

Our LEED Platinum certified Learning Gate School is a featured project, and is included in the White
paper “Green Schools that Teach” published by the Institute for the Built Environment, Colorado
State University.  Read the white paper HERE!
 
Press Release
September 19, 2019

Angara-Let's address the perennial classroom backlog now

Instead of "playing catch up with backlogs" in school buildings, government should "build forward", by
constructing in advance classrooms for future enrollees, Sen. Sonny Angara said today.

"I think we should now implement a zero-backlog program. Let's choose a year of when it will be
achieved. And once that's done, let's stock up on new classrooms that will be ready in time for new
enrollees to come in," he said.

Angara explained that what he is proposing "is not the public sector equivalent of condo hoarding
because the classrooms that will be built will not remain unused for long but will be immediately put to
use."

But for the above to be realized, "government must extend its 'Build, Build, Build' program to the
education sector," Angara said.

"Forecasted naman ang enrolees sa mga DepED schools and state universities and colleges (SUC). For
DepEd, every increase of 400,000 enrollees should ideally birth 10,000 new classrooms. With that as
basis, we can construct the anticipated needs. For once, let's be ahead of the demand curve," he said.

Angara made the proposal as budget documents showed that the Malacanang-recommended P20 billion
for the construction of new public classrooms next year is good for 8,000 rooms - way below DepEd's
request of P172.5 billion for 64,795 rooms.
On top of the backlog is the need to build at least 10,000 new classrooms yearly to house the annual
increase in public school enrollees.

For SUCs, funds do not seem to address the enrolment surge brought about by free public college, with
the proposed total capital outlay of all SUCS for 2020 at P11 billion, an amount which will include the
purchase of equipment, such as computers.

"Importante ang 'Build, Build, Build' sa edukasyon kasi sino ang magpapatakbo, sino ang mamahala ng
mga ipinupundar natin ngayon sa imprastraktura at ekonomiya kundi ang mga graduates ng ating mga
paaralan?" Angara said.

"Building up our human capital should go hand in hand with our infrastructure and other physical capital
development because the latter, like in ICT and trains, would not run on their own," Angara said. Angara,
however, emphasized that the key to the success of a 'Build, Build, Build' and a zero-classroom backlog
drive in schools is for government to have the technical expertise to overcome planning, procurement
and building challenges.

"Next year, yung 8,000 classrooms, multi-storey na lahat yan. First time in history na stacked up
construction. Ang tanong: Handa na ba ang DepEd at DPWH? If we go national with this design, may
ready na school sites na ba? May lote ba na pagtatayuan?" Angara said.