Odette-hit Schools in Palawan to Receive Aid from DepEd

Schools in typhoon-hit Palawan that were significantly damaged are expected to be the beneficiaries of a ₱6.5-million fund from the Department of Education, to be distributed through the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Service (DRRMS). Education Secretary Leonor Briones notes that they hope to allow schools and learners to return to some form of normalcy “as soon as possible.”

“We urgently deployed support in the schools and offices in Palawan as they were the hardest-hit province in the MIMAROPA region, according to our Rapid Assessment of Damages Report (RADaR),” said Briones. Of the total amount of the fund, ₱5.5 million will be allocated for the repair and restoration of 274 schools in Palawan and Puerto Princesa City.

The remaining ₱1 million will be utilized as a general support fund which may be accessed for the immediate needs of the region, this includes providing learners and teachers’ kits along with hygiene-related items, emergency school feeding, and the conduct of Psychosocial First Aid (PFA).

PFA is geared to support learners and other personnel who are experiencing psycho-emotional distress in the wake of the typhoon that ravaged the country. This is currently being carried out for affected individuals, and 460 teaching personnel are trained to administer PFA.

Earlier in the month from February 7 to 10, members of the Department of Education’s (DepEd) Quick Response and Recovery Team (QRRT) — led by the DRRMS — headed to schools located in Puerto Princesa City, municipality of San Vicente, and Roxas Central District for a damage report as well as an assessment of their immediate needs and capacity in an effort to gauge learning continuity and early recovery.

Source: BusinessMirror