Safety of students, personnel in typhoon-hit area a DepEd concern

DepEd Sec. Juan Edgardo Angara

MANILA, Philippines — Education Secretary Juan Edgardo Angara has directed all offices of the Department of Education (DepEd) to give more recovery time for students and personnel in areas affected by Super Typhoon Pepito (international name: Man-yi).

On Monday, he signed DepEd Memorandum No. 64, series of 2024, to ensure the safety and protection of teachers and students in typhoon-hit areas as well as learning continuity in affected schools.

Under the memorandum, Angara ordered all school officials to coordinate with their respective local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office and to report all displaced DepEd personnel and students, including casualties.

READ: DepEd sets new learning program for calamity-hit schools

They should also activate their schools’ respective medical teams to look after the medical needs of any DepEd personnel and students.

READ: US vows $1-million aid for Storm Pepito’s victims

At the same time, they must conduct pre-deployment debriefing in their schools and divisions and for them to mark any unsafe areas within the school premises due to Pepito.

Psychological aid

In the aftermath of the typhoon, Angara said that psychological first aid was another concern as he ordered school officials to report emerging child protection and human rights issues.

Another directive was for school officials to assess the well-being of all personnel and students regarding the resumption of in-person classes and to implement “further localized temporary suspension” of in-person classes to allow them recovery time, if necessary.

To ensure learning continuity, Angara told school officials to facilitate the provision of response interventions such as clearing operations and minor repairs to temporary learning spaces, among others.

All damaged learning resources, school furniture, and computer packages must be immediately replaced, he added.