Cagayan de Oro City schools ready for classes

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CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines—Classrooms, school grounds and covered courts that teemed with hundreds of people displaced by last December’s deluge are now empty.  The chairs have been repainted, floors waxed and polished, and blackboards scrubbed spotless—all set, it seems, for the reopening of classes on Monday.

But where are the students?

School officials say substantially fewer students have enrolled this year.

At Macasandig Elementary School, one of the city’s largest public schools, the number of enrollees this year is much lower compared with previous years.

“Last year, we had 1,600 total enrollees. We do not have the total enrollees yet for this upcoming school year but the pre-enlistment  figure is quite low,” said teacher Nancy Ramoso.

Ramoso said she and other school officials reckon the distance of the new evacuation centers is a key factor for the lower enrollment this year.

“Their new location in various tent cities is really a great distance from our school. That is why the parents would rather transfer temporarily their children to a school nearest to their evacuation center or to stop sending their children to school,” she said.

Macasandig Elementary School was previously home to 232 families whose houses were engulfed by water, mud and other debris during the  flood that ravaged the city last December.

But with the coming of the new school year, the evacuees had to be moved to encampments, locally referred to as tent cities, in various areas around the city.

Ramoso and other teachers at  Macasandig Elementary School said they hoped there would still be more enrollees during the first few days of classes.

“Even if there will be a huge drop in the enrollment this year, we will continue to patiently educate the students. But we are also urging the parents  to please enroll your children, no matter what the situation is,” Ramoso said.