The Department of Education (DepEd) has suspended classes at all levels in the Typhoon Odette-hit Bais City in Negros Oriental from January 18-31 to help teachers and students recover from the onslaught of the storm and in the face of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) threat.
Dr. Adolf Aguilar, officer-in-charge (OIC) Schools Division Superintendent of the DepEd Schools Division Office (SDO) of Bais City, told the Philippine News Agency in an interview Tuesday that the suspension of classes and other related non-teaching activities is in accordance with the agency’s Policy on Academic Ease.
“Academic Ease is a measure of DepEd to free students and teachers from work temporarily because of either Covid-19 or any natural calamity,” Aguilar said.
For Bais City, it is both the effect of “Odette” and the threat of the fast-spreading Omicron variant of Covid-19 that has placed Negros Oriental under Alert Level 3 until the end of this month, he added.
Bais City, about an hour’s drive north of this capital, is one of the hardest-hit areas in Negros Oriental by “Odette” when it ripped through the Visayas on Dec. 16, 2021.
Aguilar, who assumed his post last January 7, conducted a post-typhoon visit to the schools in the city that were destroyed by the typhoon.
“As I went around the city in the aftermath, only a portion has restored electricity, and residents are still recovering/rebuilding their damaged houses. At the same time, we at DepEd are working to recover the modules and other teaching materials and equipment that were destroyed by the typhoon,” Aguilar said in mixed English and Cebuano.
The school year, which is supposed to end in June, will be extended in Bais City for two weeks, the DepEd official said.
“We are taking a pause in consideration of the health and total well-being of our teachers and learners,” he added.
However, school heads, non-teaching personnel, and property custodians are required to report for work.
Source: Philippines News Agency
