In-person classes to continue in Odette-devastated areas

MANILA, Philippines — Limited face-to-face classes will continue in areas devastated by Super Typhoon Odette, Education Secretary Leonor Briones said yesterday as she asked President Duterte to allow the use of a part of the agency’s 2022 budget for the rehabilitation of damaged schools.

“We will continue and we will endeavor to expand face-to-face classes. We survived two world wars, insurrections, revolutions, volcanic eruptions, floods and all that, and schools continued to open. And this Odette will not stop us from continuing,” Briones said during Duterte’s weekly Talk to the People on Monday night.

Briones said the Department of Education (DepEd) would proceed with its plan to expand the in-person classes, noting that no COVID infection has been reported among students since Nov. 15.

“Our pilot effort has been very successful in all schools that we opened – public, private, international as well as other types of schools,” she said.

Briones said DepEd needs P3.37 billion to rebuild classrooms and schools damaged by the typhoon.

Odette affected 29,671 schools and 12 million learners when it barreled across various parts of the Visayas and Mindanao.

Some schools were flattened by the typhoon including those in Siargao.

“We want to recover and build, Mr. President. But we have to ask how much it will cost to bring us back to where we were before and perhaps beyond. We have estimated it would cost us P3.37 billion,” Briones said during a briefing at Malacañang.

The amount will be used to reconstruct 1,086 new classrooms in place of those that were wiped out by the typhoon as well as rehabilitate 1,316 others that sustained damage.

Briones expressed hope the amount would be included in the 2022 budget, so DepEd could assist the 11 regions devastated by the typhoon.

“We beg for consideration because we will probably be using part of the 2022 budget for rehabilitation,” she said.

Briones said the agency also needs P3.25 billion and P657.4 million to replace the computer sets in the elementary and secondary level, respectively; P73.4 million for damaged furniture, and P26.47 million for learning materials.

DepEd said there are 656 public schools that are being used as evacuation centers in typhoon-hit areas.

The agency has only P230 million left in its quick response fund, Briones said. – Romina Cabrera