The Department of Education in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (DepEd-ARMM) continues to exert to ensure the welfare of the school children and teachers affected by the Marawi crisis.
Alfhadar Pajiji, DepEd-ARMM assistant secretary, said the department will be providing e-learning assistance, psychosocial first aid, and a feeding program for affected school children.
Based on initial damage assessment, schools with buildings partly or totally destroyed due to the armed conflict in Marawi are Ibango Elementary School, Marawi Pilot Central School, Dangcal Elementary School, Lower Dansalan Elementary School, Dansalan National High School, Raya Madaya Elementary School, Disomangcop Elementary School, Marinaut Central Elementary School, Banggolo Central Elementary School, and Madaya Lilod Elementary School. Damages in these schools were initially estimated at P120 million.
Asec. Pajiji said DepEd-ARMM and the region’s Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH-ARMM) signed a Memorandum of Agreement where the design and construction of school buildings was assigned to DPWH-ARMM.
As of July 27, DepEd-ARMM has been operating 11 Temporary Learning Spaces as alternative schools in six municipalities with 3,289 school children and 122 teachers. Around 132 schools with 22,714 students and 2,933 teachers are estimated to have been affected by the Marawi crisis.
The e-learning assistance is a regular project of DepEd-ARMM under its computerization program intended for Geographically Isolated and Disadvantage Areas (GIDA). Secondary schools under GIDA have also been included in the current response to the crisis.
Other assistance to affected schools also includes solar panels with batteries to store power, seven tablets, and a laptop, said Assistant Secretary Pajiji. Distribution of hygiene kits, relief goods, food items and medicine are also part of the initiative.
The department, in coordination with Gawad Kalinga, has also dispensed hot meals to 1,000 school children last July 5. As of the same day, 2,800 have benefited from the program.
Aside from students, 1,400 teachers are also being provided with psychosocial first aid.(Bureau of Public Information/PIA-10)
No comments