Abra delaying school opening due to earthquake damage

MANILA, Philippines – Abra province will delay the opening of classes for school year 2022-2023 due to the big number of schools destroyed or damaged by the July 27 magnitude 7 earthquake, the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council announced during a briefing on Sunday, July 31.

The PDRRMC released an order reiterating Governor Dominic Valera’s July 27 executive order, suspending classes in all levels at private and public schools.

It ordered the resumption of work in government offices on Monday, August 1, but asked that provincial units use temporary spaces until safety inspectors green light the use of their buildings and offices.

The PDRRMC order suspending classes also covers remedial sessions for students who have fallen behind in the remote or blended mode of education implemented during more than two years of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The province has not announced a date for school opening. An order by Department Education Secretary and Vice President Sara Duterte set the school opening nationwide on August 22.

The Abra disaster body said the extent of damage to the province’s schools could force the retention of modular blended, hybrid, or ed-tech modality of classes.

Duterte’s first order as education chief mandated a return to face-to-face classes beginning November 2. But a backlash from students, parents, and teachers prompted President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to call a review to allow for the blended mode in vulnerable areas.

The DepEd on Thursday, July 28, said 9,539 schools in 58 divisions in the Ilocos Region, the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) , and Cagayan Valley sustained damage from the earthquake.

Abra, the landlocked province at the epicenter of the quake, has reported 218 classrooms destroyed and 403 classrooms with major damage, according to the DepEd-CAR. – Rappler.com