Metro Manila, Philippines – Over 700 schools will skip opening of classes on Monday, July 29, in the aftermath of massive floods, the Department of Education (DepEd) said on Friday.
The agency said these schools will come from four regions: Metro Manila, Central Luzon, Cordillera, and Soccsksargen.
As of 4 p.m. of July 26, the agency said 425 schools were converted into evacuation centers, while over 240 others remain flooded.
DepEd said unaffected schools will open classes on Monday.
In a press briefing, Education Secretary Sonny Angara said a nationwide school opening postponement is not feasible.
“Dapat i-makeup talaga iyong missed school days as a policy. Kasi may datos tayo na isa tayo sa pinakamaraming missed school days sa buong mundo. Kaya gusto man ng iba na i-postpone natin nang malawakan, we cannot do it,” said Angara.
[Translation: We should make up for missed school days as a policy. Because we have data saying the Philippines has the most number of missed school days worldwide. That’s why even though others want to postpone classes on a larger scale, we cannot do it.]
In a chance interview in San Mateo, Rizal on Thursday, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said local school officials have the discretion on class opening in the aftermath of the calamity.
Schools as evacuation centers
With a hundred schools turned into evacuation hubs, Angara said classrooms should be the last option as a safe place during calamities.
“We’re discouraging it as a last resort na puntahan at may threat to persons and properties na talagang malubha. Unahin sana iyong covered courts,” he said.
[Translation: We’re discouraging it. It should be the last resort when there are serious threats to properties. I hope they prioritize covered courts first]
Based on DepEd Memorandum 004 s. 2024, schools will only be used as evacuation centers for up to 15 days at most.
Rehabilitation
Meanwhile, Angara said it may take some time to rehabilitate schools severely damaged by disasters.
“Sa DepEd, meron tayong P2 billion in rehabilitation funds. We can access that. But if it goes beyond that, we have to rely on other agencies,” he said.
[Translation: In DePed, we have P2 billion rehabilitation funds. We can access that. But if goes beyond that, we have to rely on other agencies]
Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said DepEd may also tap the agency’s quick response fund totaling P3.2 billion.
“Then we have available P11 billion under NDRRMF (National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Fund),” she said.
