DepEd: Spare schools as evac centers

CEBU, Philippines — As the first few months of classes are expected to be rainy, an official of the Department of Education (DepEd)-Cebu province division said that public schools should only be made as last resort for emergency evacuations.

Dr. Rhea Mar Angtud, DepEd Cebu province schools division superintendent, echoed the same sentiment of Education Secretary Leonor Briones, who had been vocal of her stand ever since.

For the DepEd chief, this practice should no longer be allowed.

"Ideally, the classrooms are used only for holding classes. If evacuees are sheltered here, these cannot be used by students," Angtud said.

She added the children or pupils are at a loss since the usage of classrooms as evacuation centers disrupt the regular school operations.

Using classrooms as evacuation sites have been a practice when fire or flooding occurs. Schools adjust and eventually arrange class shifts or makeup classes to maximize the remaining classrooms that are unused.

At times, students use makeshift classrooms or tents in open spaces making them more vulnerable to noise.

Angtud said classrooms, in the first place, are not built as evacuation sites.

Besides, she said the local government units have already constructed their own or identified areas that may be used temporarily as evacuation such as covered basketball courts or gymnasiums.

But in "extreme" cases, Angtud said this may be the time that schools are used as temporary shelter, mainly for humanitarian reason.

"Dili nato ihikaw ang eskwelahan kon wala na gyuy padulngan... pero last option na na," she said.

Like the tragic Tinaan, Naga landslide in September 2018, many schools there were used as evacuation for the thousands of displaced families. — GAN (FREEMAN)