AT LEAST 215 temporary classrooms near the relocation area for Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) survivors in Tacloban City are needed this school year, said the Department of Education (DepEd).
DepEd said the classrooms are needed to accommodate thousands of students following the massive transfer of families from danger zones to safer grounds in the past months.
The department needs a 21,897-square-meter land area for the provisional classrooms, which will be built near nine locations in the northern part of Tacloban. A budget of P16.47 million is needed.
DepEd said that this academic year, the provisional classrooms are intended for 8,235 learners. Last year, the education department also built temporary learning sites (TLS) only for 1,440 new enrollees.
"Some 100 TLS are targeted to be finished before the start of classes (in June). The other 115 TLS are projected to finish within the timeline of school year 2017-2018," said Ivannovich Agote, DepEd Tacloban disaster risk reduction and management coordinator.
The provision of temporary rooms for instruction is the DepEd’s short-term solution to provide the basic educational needs of thousands of children, whose families were badly-hit by Typhoon Yolanda.
The DepEd is seeking a P768.93 million outlay to build 558 permanent classrooms for thousands of children, whose families were moved to Tacloban's northern relocation sites.
At least 10 new campuses will rise near resettlement sites for an estimated 25,110 students from families previously living in danger zones. (PNA)