School calendar in typhoon-hit areas to be adjusted

The school calendar in areas hit by successive typhoons this month will be adjusted, the Department of Education (DepEd) said earlier this week following the disruption in the distance learning activities of students.

Parents and teachers will be in talks on how to proceed with the schedule of makeup classes so students can catch up with the lessons, DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones said in a Palace press briefing.

“Tinitingnan natin yong calendar. ‘Yong calendar of activities, ina-adjust ‘yon,” Briones said.

(We’re looking at the calendar. The calendar of activities can be adjusted.)

“Magde-debate ang parents, teachers, kung mayroon bang Saturday classes, Sunday classes, extension classes para maka-make up at makahabol iyong mga bata,” she added.

(Parents and teachers will debate on whether there will be Saturday classes, Sunday classes, extension of classes so students can catch up.)

Briones emphasized that makeup classes are nothing new since these are usually implemented following class disruptions.

“Ginagawa naman natin ‘yan taon-taon tuwing mayroong sakuna, whether natural or otherwise,” she said.

(We do that yearly everytime there is a calamity.)

Several local government units, mostly in Luzon, suspended distance learning activities in their localities after these were battered by a series of typhoons in recent weeks. The typhoons spawned massive floods and even landslides in some areas.

In Marikina City for instance, Mayor Marcy Teodoro imposed a month-long suspension of distance learning activities and said classes would likely resume by January 2021 already.