DepEd eyes Jan. 3 resumption of classes in flood-hit Mindanao

MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Education  is still pushing to resume classes in storm-devastated areas in Northern Mindanao along with public schools nationwide on January 3 as officials believe returning to school would help affected students move on.

DepEd spokesperson Assistant Secretary Tonisito Umali said the department has been working on remedies to bring students in worst-hit Iligan and Cagayan de Oro City back to school on time, among them building makeshift classrooms and looking at nearby schools to absorb displaced students.

Umali said DepEd has been working with other government agencies to relocate evacuees currently housed in schools following the devastation wrought by Tropical Storm Sendong.

“Unless these remedies will not be possible, then we will definitely consider postponing classes in these areas,” Umali said on Thursday.

Education Secretary Armin Luistro  told the Inquirer on December 22 that DepEd engineers had been instructed to repair affected schools or build makeshift rooms in the two cities so that classes could open in time on January 3.  The first week of classes, he said, will be spent on therapy through music and art.

“(I)t is critical to me that the schools go back to normal, even with makeshift classrooms, and that the students have a semblance of normalcy, because that’s part of their therapy,” Luistro said.

Luistro said also that some P20 million from DepEd savings has been allocated for the effort and that an P8 million fund from the United States Agency for International Development would be used to rush the  acquisition of new school desks.

Umali said DepEd will make its final announcement on January 1 whether classes would indeed push through in areas destroyed by Sendong on January 3.

“By January 1, we will see if it’s possible. The others are already resigned to the fact that we should resume classes in February. But we in DepEd are looking for solutions,” Umali said.

DepEd is also looking to implement special education programs in areas still inaccessible because of the floods.

“We are inviting them to go back to school… and I think that’s what parents also want for their children, instead of their sons and daughters just wandering around in evacuation centers,” said Umali.

“We are sensitive to how they feel, that’s why we want them to move on.  If they really can’t go back to school, no one will be penalized for that,” he added.