MANILA, Philippines — Damage wrought by recent typhoons to learning materials amounted to over P560 million, according to data from the Department of Education (DepEd).
During a Senate hearing on Friday, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian showed figures DepEd had sent to his office on the cost of damage caused by typhoons that hit the country from late October up to this month.
“I just want to implore the department to prioritize the self-learning modules (SLMs),” said Gatchalian, chair of the Senate basic education committee.
He then presented a table showing that recent typhoons left damage to learning materials amounting to a total of P567.89 million.
These damaged learning materials include over 1.6 million SLMs estimated at P55.08 million; over 111,000 books estimated at P11.289 million; and over P501.52 million worth of computers and laptops.
This photo shows the table presented by Senate basic education committee chair Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian during a hearing on Friday, November 27, 2020. The table presents the cost of damage to learning materials brought about by recent typhoons.
While Gatchalian acknowledged the “significant” damage caused by the typhoons to school infrastructure, he said DepEd should give priority to restore SLMs and other learning materials.
“If you look at the SLMs and the books, it’s quite manageable, it’s P66 million [in total]. This is what I want to implore so that learning will continue since a lot of our evacuees have gone back to their homes. What they need to continue with their lives is a copy of their modules,” he said.
“Those schools naman will not be used yet,” he added, referring to the cancelation of face-to-face classes due to the pandemic.
Nevertheless, the senator said the Senate would ensure that there would be enough funds to repair schools damaged by the typhoons.
“We will make sure that we have enough funds to repair our schools next year. Next year, we will have about P4.7 billion for repairs of schools. I know it’s not enough…but we will continue to look for funds to repair our schools,” he said.
“Immediate necessity will be the SLM and the books so they (students) will continue learning,” he added.
Education Undersecretary Nepomuceno Malaluan agreed with Gatchalian on addressing the immediate needs of the students.
“We agree on the urgency of providing the financial support locally to address immediate needs. I mentioned earlier we made supplemental downloading (of funds) for these areas,” Malaluan told senators.