4 days of class suspension affect nearly 8M learners

ILOILO CITY – Nearly eight million learners across the country were affected by the four-day suspension of in-person classes due to Typhoon “Verbena” and the shear line, according to the Department of Education’s (DepEd) final report released on Saturday.

From Nov. 24 to 28, a total of 18,004 public schools in 103 divisions across 13 regions halted classes, disrupting 7,793,895 learners and 351,850 teaching and non-teaching personnel. The suspension—one of the most extensive for the year—was declared in anticipation of severe weather and flooding that later inundated campuses.

READ: Classes suspended, shifted to alternate mode in parts of PH on Nov. 25

Initial assessments showed the class stoppages were accompanied by varying levels of physical damage to learning spaces. DepEd documented 149 classrooms with minor damage, 20 with major damage, and 37 destroyed, figures that remain subject to validation as more reports come in from the field.

The four-day halt also triggered immediate clean-up and recovery efforts as DepEd’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Service (DRRMS), together with local government units, mobilized clearing operations and safety inspections to prepare schools for reopening. HAZEL P. VILLA INQ