School opening in Carina-hit areas postponed

The Department of Education (DepEd) is postponing the opening of classes in areas that were hardly hit by Super Typhoon Carina and enhanced southwest monsoon or habagat, Education Secretary Juan Edgardo "Sonny" Angara announced on Thursday.

The opening of classes for public schools for this school year will begin on 29 July.

"Some schools will really have to postpone their openings kasi maraming aayusin at lilinisin. Pero 'yung wala o minimal ang damages itutuloy pa rin ang pasukan," Angara said in a statement.

Angara said he will issue on Friday the list of schools whose opening of classes will be deferred to give them enough time to clean their classrooms and fix minor damages.

"I’ll be issuing a list tomorrow kung saan postponed ang pasukan and the regional directors will also work with the principals to assess readiness for school opening," Angara said.

"Hindi namin pipilitin yung mga nasalanta talaga at mahihirapan sa school opening ng Lunes," the DepEd chief added.

Meanwhile, at least 90 schools nationwide have so far were damaged due to the typhoon and severe flooding.

As of Thursday, 25 July, DepEd reported 9 regions with school damages. These are Cordillera Administative Region, National Capital Region, Region 2, Region 3, Region 4-A, Region 4-B, Region 6, and Region 8.

DepEd also reported that 324 schools nationwide are currently being used as evacuation centers.

The total estimated cost of repair of the damaged schools has reached P630 million.