Education Secretary Jesli Lapus said he has ordered the schools in the regions that are now recovering from the destruction to conduct make-up classes.

“Of the more than 300 schools used as evacuation centers, only 103 remain partially occupied by evacuees and teachers have started to conduct classes in available rooms,” Lapus said.

Of the more than 18,600 families that were evacuated, only about 11,400 remained in public schools, he added.

Lapus said the two storms caused P1.23 billion worth of damage to public schools—P749.8 million by Ondoy and P481.8 million by Pepeng.

Make-up classes

The damage estimates cover the cost of repair, rehabilitation of classrooms and the replacement of textbooks, instructional materials, computers, equipment and other school properties, Lapus said.

He added that more than 2,500 schools were affected by these weather disturbances.

School officials in the Ilocos, Cagayan, Central Luzon, Southern Tagalog, and Bicol regions plus the Cordillera Administration Region and Metro Manila have been directed to hold make-up classes.

The make-up classes are to be held on all Saturdays of October, November and December, excluding those that fall during the Christmas break.

Affected public schools may also use for make-up classes the midyear break from Oct. 26 to 30, normally used to assess the performance of teachers and their in-service training, Lapus said.

Home study

Schools could also conduct “modularized instruction” which would allow students to study at home to make up for lost class hours, he said.

This is the Modified In-School/Out-of-School Approach under which schoolchildren who are unable to attend school do their lessons through modules that run parallel to lessons taught in the classroom.

He said division offices will keep track of the number of schooldays lost in the schools under their jurisdiction and the make-up classes to ensure that the minimum number of schooldays of the school calendar is preserved.

But schools that were not severely affected by the typhoons may observe the midyear break as scheduled, said Lapus.

Lapus thanks private sector for help after Ondoy, Pepeng devastation

Lapus also thanked the DepEd’s Adopt-A-School partners from the private sector after they readily expressed interest in helping the public schools that were hit by Ondoy and Pepeng.

“This is bayanihan at work in our education system. What our donors have done is an example of active community participation in education, which will help our schoolchildren and teachers survive this crisis,” said Lapus in a statement.

He said the National Bookstore Foundation was repacking school supplies that will be distributed to public schoolchildren, while the National Power Corp. (Napocor) pledged to donate materials and contribute manpower to help clean affected public schools.

Cleansers, disinfectants

Amway Philippines will donate cleansers and disinfectants while public school students in some affected areas can expect school supplies from the Alfonso Yuchengco Foundation, he said.

On the other hand, the Jollibee Foundation and UnionBank have also expressed their desire to help affected public schools while many private individuals have donated used books and cash for the victims of the typhoons, the DepEd said.

“The community—including the private sector—is our most important ally in rebuilding our schools. Everybody can do something to help our students and teachers recover from this calamity,” Lapus said. Philip C. Tubeza