The Department of Education said Monday that 11 million students on all levels were affected by the suspension of classes following typhoon “Ulysses.”
The Education Cluster Report on Ulysses released by DepEd Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Service Director Ronilda Co showed that as of Nov. 15, classes on all levels were suspended since Nov. 11 in 20,941 schools under 105 divisions in the Cordillera Administrative Region, National Capital Region, Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, and Bicol, directly affecting 11, 900, 260 enrollees.
DepEd said 430 schools or 14, 844 classrooms under 47 divisions in the CAR, NCR, and Regions 1, 2, 3, 4-A, 4-B, 5, and 8 are being used as evacuation centers by 1, 935 families or 56, 676 individuals, of which 7, 989 are students.
DepEd Calabarzon issued a regional memorandum last Nov. 15 suspending classes in some areas of the division of Antipolo City badly affected by Ulysses.
Regional Director Wilfredo Cabral directed the suspension of distance learning activities in eight elementary and three secondary schools from Nov. 16 to 20 – Calawis Elementary School, Kaysakat ES, San Joseph ES, Canumay ES, Libis ES, San Ysidro ES, Apia ES, and Paglitaw ES and Calawis National High School (NHS), Kaysakat NHS, and Canumay NHS – “in view of the inaccessibility of some areas of the Division of Antipolo City because of the effects brought about by typhoon Ulysses, such as impassable roads due to the damaged bridges, power outage, and the dangers of landslide in the area.”
Cabral said that the suspension of classes may give the “concerned school heads and teachers an ample time to reproduce learning activity sheets which were damaged in the aftermath of the typhoon.”
In a separate memorandum dated Nov. 15, Cabral directed the suspension of distance learning activities in Rodriguez, San Mateo, Cainta, Taytay, Barangay Pinugay, Baras and upland Tanay in Rizal from Nov. 16 to 20 “to provide affected personnel, families, and the learners to recover from the devastating effects of the typhoon.”
DepEd said that in Cagayan and Tuguegarao City, distance learning classes are suspended today until tomorrow. DepEd added that its regional office in NCR is also coordinating with the local government unit in the suspension of classes.