Schools in the Philippines that have been affected by the onslaught of Super Typhoon Rolly have been urged by the Education Secretary, Leonor Briones and DepED to initiate their own solutions in dealing with the crisis.
In a public briefing done via a virtual press briefing, the secretary said that the education department was leaving the fallout from the tropical for local offices and divisions to work around the issues in their areas. This included leaving the responsibility of ensuring soiled modules are replaced.
DepEd on relief
In her argument, she said that the solution would help the schools get back up faster than if they were to wait for orders from the central office of the department of education (DepEd).
She however indicated that students who had been adversely affected by the tropical cyclone would be allowed to use resources that were being previously used by other students. Confidently, Briones indicated that she also believed that the cyclone had not affected the DepEd schedule and also production of modules, indicating that they had already produced modules for the first quarter.
However, not everyone was pleased with the secretary’s comments about schools finding their own solutions to help students cope with the tropical cyclone and its devastation. Many took to social media to express their disapproval of the secretary’s statements.
One Twitter user wondered how their secretary and the DepEd could be detached from their reality that the teachers and students go through. The social media user continued by terming the move by the government as insensitive.
how can you be so detached to the reality of our teachers and students? how insensitive. 🥴 https://t.co/WnrhgZah8c
— claire ✵ (@manasclaire) November 3, 2020
Another online user criticized the secretary and called for her resignation. The user indicated that it was very easy for her to say that schools should deal with their own problems, arguing that the secretary had no idea what was going on.
https://twitter.com/Baldogggg/status/1323801645910695941
Briones, however, clarified that her department had already contacted the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council and they were working together to help schools and students who had been affected by tropical cyclones.
