DepEd to deploy Taal-affected personnel to nearby schools

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BATANGAS CITY — The Department of Education (DepEd) said on Friday that affected personnel of schools within Taal Volcano’s 14-kilometer danger zone will be accommodated in nearby schools.

In a briefing here, Education Undersecretary Alain Pascua said displaced personnel should report to their respective division offices for deployment.

“This is to augment the teaching personnel and school management there,” Pascua said.

There are 1,055 personnel and 30,814 learners in 78 public schools located in the 14-km radius danger zone of the volcano.

Pascua also reiterated that the agency will track the displaced learners and personnel from the 14-kilometer danger zone of the volcano to determine their needs and transfer them to the schools near the affected towns.

“When we track everybody, we would see to it that the 30,000 displaced learners will be tracked through a learner reference number,” he added.

Citing Memorandum Order No. 3 series of 2020 signed by Secretary Leonor Briones, all nearby public schools within Calabarzon are directed to accommodate Taal-affected learners even with insufficient transfer credentials.

“We have done this during the Marawi crisis were displaced learners are accepted in schools nearby the place where their families evacuated. With or without credentials, they should be admitted to those schools,” Pascua said.

He noted that the policy will also apply to learners from 13 affected private schools.

Pascua also said the agency is preparing for the possibility of extending the volcano’s danger zone to 17 kilometers which will mean the displacement of another 68,984 learners and 2,498 personnel.

He added DepEd is now preparing for the rehabilitation of the abandoned areas.

DepEd Calabarzon director Wilfredo Cabral, meanwhile, cited the need to identify and address the problems of the displaced learners.

“We know this event should not hinder students from continuing their education,” he said.

He said about 1,600 classrooms in 141 nearby public schools are now accommodating more than 58,000 people.

Among the taken actions of the education sector after the Taal’s eruption are monitoring schools used as evacuation centers, clean-up drives on the schools’ grounds affected by the heavy ashfall, assisting the evacuees, and preparation of the deployment of the Alternative Delivery Mode (ADM) for learning continuity.

On Friday, Briones attended the DepEd executives’ coordination meeting, planning and preparation of emergency measures in response to the eruption of Taal Volcano, which remains under Alert Level 4.