• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Secretary Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara said Tuesday, Nov. 11, the Department of Education (DepEd) will closely coordinate with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and other national government agencies to accelerate the rehabilitation of affected schools across all the provinces impacted by Typhoon Tino.
In Negros Island Region, 1,726 classrooms were damaged during the typhoon’s onslaught on Nov. 4.
Some 277 were destroyed, 424 severely damaged, and the others incurred minor damages.
The devastation also affected 64,000 students and 3,500 personnel.
Angara said they need P954.7 million for the repairs of damaged classrooms.
“Our goal is simple: rebuild quickly, rebuild better, and rebuild safer,” he added.
DepEd engineers in the regional and division offices continue to conduct structural integrity checks.
Minor repairs and cleanup operations have begun in coordination with local government units, the Department of Public Works and Highways, and the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
Angara said the DepEd’s top priority is to restore safe learning environments through temporary learning spaces, modular learning programs, and emergency resource mobilization for teachers and students.
On Tuesday, Angara and Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia-Frasco visited the flooded areas of Binalbagan, Moises Padilla, and La Castellana in Negros Occidental.
They met with the evacuees and inspected damaged schools, among other infrastructure projects, as part of the whole-of-government disaster recovery effort.
Angara led the distribution of laptops from the ConnectED by Her Legacy Project Foundation Inc. and Starlink units from the Department of Information and Communications Technology at San Teodoro Elementary School and Jose Pepito Montilla Garcia National High School to restore connectivity and implement learning continuity measures.
“Our question was, what can we provide immediately?” Angara said. “That was what the schools requested. They had no internet connection, so we are providing about 30 units of information technology equipment, including laptops and Starlink connectivity, for immediate use by affected schools.”
Angara also distributed Edukahon boxes containing food packs and learning kits as part of DepEd’s continuing assistance to affected families. | GB
