Schools in Quezon town shift to distance learning due to extreme heat

Lucena City, Quezon Province | INQUIRER FILES

LUCENA CITY — All face-to-face or on-site school classes in General Luna town in Quezon province are suspended beginning Wednesday, April 24, until further notice to protect the students and teachers from the hot temperature amid the extreme heat.

Mayor Matt Erwin Florido, in his Executive Order No. 17 issued on Tuesday, April 23, said that in place of physical classes, all levels of education, including but not limited to primary, secondary, and tertiary “shall transition to asynchronous classes to ensure continuity of learning.”

READ: Manila suspends on-site classes until Friday due to heat forecast

“Teachers and educators are encouraged to provide online materials, assignments, and resources to facilitate remote learning during the suspension period,” Florido said.

He noted that General Luna “is experiencing adverse effects of El Niño, exacerbating the intensity of heat waves.”

Florido said extreme heat conditions, particularly when the heat index reaches or exceeds 41 degrees Celsius, pose significant health risks to both teachers and students. He said the EO will remain in force until further notice.

“The municipal government shall regularly review the weather conditions and heat index levels to determine the need for continuation or adjustment of this order,” he said.

General Luna is a 4th class municipality along the coast of Tayabas Bay in the Bondoc Peninsula district.

Heat indices in the country will soon hit levels of “extreme danger” in the coming days and next month, as temperatures continue to rise at the height of the summer season, on top of the lingering effects of the El Niño phenomenon, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) warned.