LANDSLIDE THREAT Some school buildings in upland villages in Kidapawan City have been condemned as these communities are declared no-build zones due to threat of landslides following the recent earthquakes. ERWINMAS CARIÑAS
KIDAPAWAN CITY, Cotabato, Philippines — More than 40,000 students of public elementary and secondary schools in this earthquake-hit city Cotabato provincial capital are still on “forced vacation” as many school buildings have yet to be declared safe for occupancy.
Mayor Joseph Evangelista said he was hoping that the resumption of classes would help the city return to normalcy and drive economic recovery following the devastation from the series of earthquakes that hit the province last month.
As of Monday, not one public school had opened its doors for students as administrators were awaiting occupancy clearance from the local government.
Evangelista earlier declared that no school would reopen until a clearance was obtained from the city’s building official.
The series of temblors last month has damaged 65 of the city’s 83 schools.
Assessment
An assessment by engineers of the Department of Education (DepEd) showed that 93 classrooms were destroyed, 308 had major damage while 312 had minor damage.
Romelito Flores, Kidapawan schools division superintendent, said the DepEd assessment needed to be confirmed by inspectors from the Office of the Building Official before a clearance could be issued.
He said the assessment was done per classroom, with engineers checking the school building’s location and its immediate surroundings.
Six of the 83 schools in the city had to be condemned as these were constructed on “no-build zones.”
The local government has received help from Association of Structural Engineers of the Philippines in the assessment of commercial establishments damaged by the quake.
Not all classrooms in every school are given occupancy clearance, Flores said.
After an assessment, a classroom or facility is classified as follows: for clean up of minor debris to make it ready for occupancy, for minor retrofitting and rehabilitation, or declared off limits due to danger of collapse.
At Kidapawan City Pilot Elementary School, which is just near the City Hall, school principal Mauricia Daquio said most of their classrooms needed repairs.
“And so we decided that instead of starting the classes today, we opted to move it further until the rooms are fully repaired and cleared for use, for the safety of the children,” Daquio told the Inquirer on Monday.
She said they were preparing 16 makeshift classrooms, or temporary learning shelters (TLS) to be built in an open field.
School administrators are looking at building TLS as an option to hasten the resumption of classes, although they have to deal with budget constraints.
Daquio said her school needed 27 TLS but they have funds to build only 16.
Gina Fe Patenio, Lanao Central Elementary School (LCES) principal, said they needed 14 TLS but their funds were enough for only nine.
Flores said the DepEd had funded only 72 TLS out of the 439 needed by Kidapawan.
‘Selective’ reopening
He said they would be forced to resort to a “selective” school reopening in the city. “We are already looking at the likelihood of some students spending their summer to complete their classes. This is really a possibility, we have no choice,” Flores said.
Other schools have to adjust class schedules following the earthquake.
In Kidapawan City National High School (KCNHS), which has close to 9,000 students, Grade 9 teacher Vence Encarnacion said they had to allocate a certain class day for each year level because of the reduced number of classrooms.
Three of KCNHS’ buildings were heavily damaged and declared off limits.
“Starting next week, KCNHS students will come to school on different assigned days. For example, on Monday, it will be the first year, then on Tuesday it will be the second year and so on. Then for the rest of the days, they will be given worksheet assignments to work on,” Encarnacion said.