Plan to rebuild and repair schools damaged by Rolly starts in January - DepEd

On Wednesday, the Department of Education (DepEd) said that it was planning to start reconstruction and repairs of typhoon-damaged schools by January, if the assessment and program of works will be completed by its field engineers this month.

During a virtual DepEd consultative meeting with school heads and division superintendents in Sorsogon, Undersecretary for Administration Alain Pascua said that field engineers have been given until Nov. 30 to “finish their program of works.

Binigyan natin sila (engineers) ng deadline na dapat by November 30, tapos na ang program of works ng mga eskuwelahan na na-damage para nang sa ganoon, mabigyan natin agad ng pondo,

Pascua said.

Pascua noted that DepEd will also ensure that the school buildings, particularly those located in areas frequented by typhoons, will be disaster-resilient.

Pagdating ng January, puwede na tayong makapagsagawa agad ng reconstruction, whether i-repair ba ‘yan or tuluyan nang i-demolish, o mas maayos o mas magandang design,

he said.

Data from the DepEd Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Service as of November 9 showed that there are 1,618 schools damaged in 36 divisions under the National Capital Region, Cordillera Administrative Region, Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol, and Eastern Visayas during typhoon Rolly’s onslaught.

Based on initial and partial assessment, DepEd said that there were 1,640 totally-damaged classrooms; 3,455 partially damaged classrooms (major); and 5,807 partially damaged classrooms (minor).

An of estimate of P5.82 billion or P4.1 billion by DepEd would be the total cost for the rebuilding and rehabilitation of Rolly-damaged schools and about P1.7 billion for repair or rehabilitation.