This was what Dr. Wilfreda Bongalos, Lapu-Lapu City Schools Division superintendent, told SunStar Cebu in reaction to the Department of Education’s (DepEd) announcement that full in-person classes will resume in November this year.
He said the damage assessment and repairs on school facilities that suffered damage during Typhoon Odette (Rai) in December last year were still ongoing.
Lapu-Lapu City has about 81 public schools: 44 elementary schools, 27 junior high schools and 10 senior high schools.
Based on their initial assessment, Bongalos said majority of the city’s public schools have damaged facilities. They hope to finish the repairs before the resumption of five-day face-to-face classes on Nov. 2 in coordination with different stakeholders and the Lapu-Lapu City Government.
As agreed with officials of the local division’s finance and accounting offices, Bongalos said they will first prioritize the roofing of school facilities starting this month of July until September just to make use of the schools.
To ensure that they can also comply with Covid-19 measures, Bongalos said they will also make sure that each school will have enough hand-washing facilities and toilet and water supplies.
Fast-tracking repairs
Bongalos said they plan to fast-track and complete the repairs before November this year.
Mayor Junard “Ahong” Chan said the City has allocated P80 million for the DepEd in the first supplemental budget for this year, which includes a fund for the repair of school buildings and the purchase of laptops and other gadgets.
Bongalos said the City Government has been very supportive in extending its help for the repairs of school buildings damaged by the typhoon.
The City also assisted the school division in producing education materials and modules when limited face-to-face classes was prohibited at the height of the pandemic, she added.
Despite their limited resources, Bongalos said she is not worried concerning the implementation of limited in-person classes this coming August.
She said all public schools in the city have already experienced the limited face-to-face classes.
Bongalos revealed that only 14 of the 70 private schools in the city have joined the limited face-to-face classes last school year.
She said the school division is set to conduct a meeting with the representatives of the city’s private schools on July 18 concerning their preparedness for the opening of classes.
She also expressed hope that all private schools will now join the limited face-to-face classes this coming August.