Briones ensures Marawi’s readiness for school opening

MANILA, Philippines — Destroyed schools, collapsed roofs and bullet-riddled walls greeted Education Secretary Leonor Briones yesterday as she visited for the first time the ground zero of the siege of Marawi City last year.

While about 20 public schools in the city cannot offer classes starting June 4, Briones said the first anniversary of the siege marks the restoration of hope and rebuilding of dreams of students affected by the five-month conflict.

“We want the opening of this school year to be without difficulty for our learners and personnel, especially those from Marawi who have endured so much in the past year. We want them to be able to enroll and attend the first day of classes with fewer concerns,” she said as she led the launch of Oplan Balik Eskwela in Marawi.

“The department is confident that we are not wanting in support from people and organizations whose passion for education will enable our affected learners and personnel to take a step from the shadow of the war and look forward to learning as their link to normalcy in the present and hope for the future,” she added.

About 40 schools in Marawi will welcome students during the opening of classes on June 4, according to the Department of Education (DepEd).

For students in schools that were rendered unusable because of the conflict, they will be assigned to nearby “cluster schools” where temporary learning spaces were constructed.

“The bottomline for us in the Department of Education is the provision of education. Not just that, but the provision of constitutionally mandated quality education that is accessible to all,” Briones told local officials, students, teachers and other stakeholders at Amai Pakpak Central Elementary School yesterday.

Some 30,000 students were reportedly displaced during the five-month conflict last year.

Many students opted to enroll in schools outside the city, many in nearby Iligan and Cagayan de Oro, the DepEd said.

Only around 3,000 returned to Marawi schools when some reopened after the city’s liberation in October last year.

Briones said they are closely coordinating with local officials in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and other areas to ensure that students from Marawi are accommodated.