DepEd urged to suspend classes in Rolly, Ulysses-hit areas

Quezon City Representative Precious Hipolito Castelo is calling on the Department of Education (DepEd) to suspend for now the classes in areas hit by Typhoons Rolly and Ulysses.

In a statement on Monday, Castelo suggested that DepEd allow its regional, provincial, city, and municipal officials to determine areas in Bicol Region, Cagayan Valley Region, and Metro Manila where online classes could be suspended and for how long.

“It is only humane to allow students to recover physically and mentally in the next few weeks. Grades should not add to the burden the academic community has to face in difficult times,” she said.

Castelo argued that distance learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic is no longer a matter of Internet accessibility, but also of access to electricity, water, and other basic resources which may have been affected by two recent typhoons.

Rolly and Ulysses, she added, have displaced thousands of individuals and damaged road and communications infrastructure.

“Until such service is restored and there is strong, sustainable connectivity, distance learning is not possible,” Castelo said.

“The least we can do to help those in typhoon-ravaged communities in these trying times is give students and teachers and their families a respite from academic work,” she added.

Castelo said areas where classes should be suspended could regain for the lost learning time by extending their school calendar or holding makeup classes.

While classes are suspended, education and local officials may clean school facilities submerged by flooding, while telcos can start repairing their infrastructure, she added.

Local officials may also relocate the evacuees housed in schools to other safe areas in case teachers already need to use their classrooms, Castelo continued.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council on Monday reported that the number of fatalities following Typhoon Ulysses remains at 67 while 21 individuals were wounded and 13 are still missing.

A total of 2,074,301 individuals or 523,871 families have been affected by the strong typhoon that hit several areas on Thursday, it added.—AOL, GMA News