Manila, Philippines?Attendance rates in most schools in the metropolis have gone back to normal nearly two months after Tropical Storm ?Ondoy? unleashed the worst floods in Metro Manila, the Department of Education National Capital Region office said.

NCR Director Teresita Domalanta said Friday that attendance rates reached 96 percent in most schools, while a few reported 100 percent attendance.

Domalanta said that when classes finally resumed after Ondoy, attendance rates were between 20 percent and 30 percent only.

She also allayed fears that the destruction wrought by Ondoy would result in higher dropout rates among public school children this school year.

Some schools are still havens for a few families who lost their homes to the floods. In Muntinlupa City, for instance, nine schools are still being used as evacuation centers. However, classes were not disrupted because only a few rooms are being used by evacuees, Domalanta said.

Undersecretary Ramon Bacani admitted that using schools as evacuation centers had affected class schedules.

In a press conference last week, Bacani said they were considering distributing tents to schools often used as evacuation centers so evacuees could stay in these tents during the day. That way, students could still use the classrooms even if there are still evacuees in their schools.