Govt urged to prioritize rehabilitation of Yolanda-damaged schools

(Updated 6:51 p.m.) Noting the trauma faced by thousands of children who survived Typhoon Yolanda's wrath, a foreign aid group on Friday urged the Philippine government to prioritize efforts to rebuild schools in the typhoon-hit areas.

At a press conference, Carin van der Hor, the Philippines' director for the aid agency Plan International, stressed the importance for classes to resume in affected areas to “bring back a sense of normalcy” in the lives of the traumatized children.

“We need to get children back to schools... to bring back a sense of normalcy in their lives,” she said, noting that schools that weren't destroyed by the super typhoon are being used as evacuation centers for the thousands of displaced families.

“In reality, there are a lot of schools that are unusable anymore and we need to speed up and assist the government in the reconstruction of schools,” Van der Hor said.

However, Van der Hor noted that these schools should be rebuilt “in such a way that is safe,” so if another disaster hits, these buildings will be protected and not easily destroyed.

Meanwhile, she said they are looking into the possibility of decongesting the schools used as evacuation centers during daytime to be used again for classes.

In the meantime, they are setting up “temporary learning centers” so classes may resume.

On the other hand, Van der Hor also stressed the need to look into the needs of teachers as “they themselves are victims.”

“It's a very complex intervention, but it is the one that needs our immediate attention,” she said.

Meanwhile, in Tacloban City, the hardest hit area of the typhoon, a headcount of all students will be conducted as a first step in restoring the educational system there, according to a report on GMA News TV's "News To Go" on Friday.



According to the report, authorities from Leyte and the Department of Education are still ironing out details on how classes could be held considering the heavy damage wrought by Typhoon Yolanda, which left over 5,000 people dead.

Some of the evacuation centers have makeshift tents set up by private institutions and government organizations. These serve as temporary daycare centers where stress debriefings for the typhoon survivors are being done.

On Monday, makeshift classrooms will be set up where students, regardless of their grade level, will be taught some lessons to restore some sort of normalcy in the children's lives, the report said. — with Kim Luces/KBK, GMA News