Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Sonny Angara emerges from a school he inspected following massive flooding around Metro Manila and nearby areas in recent days due to torrential rains from typhoon-enhanced southwest monsoon, locally termed habagat. Angara said Friday, July 26, 2024, that at least 90 schools nationwide postponed opening their classes for School Year (SY) 2024-2025 on Monday, July 29, as they clean up and rehabilitate facilities. | PHOTO: Official Facebook page of Education Secretary Sonny Angara
MANILA, Philippines — Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Sonny Angara said at least 90 schools nationwide postponed the opening of their classes for School Year (SY) 2024-2025 on Monday, July 29, following the onslaught of typhoon-boosted southwest monsoon, locally termed “habagat,” which resulted in floods around Metro Manila and nearby areas.
DepEd did not list the schools that postponed their opening, but Angara said schools in Malabon City and Valenzuela City will push through with it on July 31 and August 5, respectively.
“As a general rule, gusto natin talaga na makabalik talaga sa July 29, pero ‘yung iba hindi talaga kakayanin,” Angara said, noting that some schools in affected cities are still being used as evacuation centers.
(As a general rule, we really want to be able to return on July 29, but the others can’t really make it.)
READ: DepEd says over 18 million students enrolled for SY 2024-2025
According to Angara, schools in Metro Manila and nearby provinces were the most damaged by heavy rains and flooding early this week.
“So far, ang report sakin severely damaged talaga ‘yung NCR (National Capital Region), Region IV-A, atsaka it seems Region 3 din,” he said.
(So far, the report to me is that the NCR, Region IV-A, and it seems Region 3 also were severely damaged.)
READ: DepEd: Brigada Eskwela SY 2024-2025 set for July 22–27
“May iba na gusto talagang i-postpone ng malawakan; we cannot do it because, alam natin, what if next week may tumama na namang typhoon. So ‘yung kaya sana pumasok na sila,” Angara added.
(Others really want a broad postponement of school opening; we cannot do it because we know that what if another typhoon hits next week. So for those who can, I hope they open and let students come in.)
DepEd said 18,370,310 students from elementary to senior high school have enrolled for SY 2024-2025 as of 9 a.m. on Friday, July 26.
Of the total, 10,001,689 are elementary students, 5,577,374 are junior high school students, and 2,598,529 are senior high school students, according to the education department.
Student enrollment in all public schools for SY 2024-2025 was set from July 3–26.