The Department of Education in the Cordillera Administrative Region (DepEd-CAR) reported that Super Typhoon Uwan damaged 1,620 classrooms across the region, including several school facilities and equipment.
Cyrille Gaye Miranda of DepEd-CAR’s Public Affairs Unit told the Philippine News Agency that as of 7 p.m. on November 13, a total of 1,170 classrooms had sustained minor damage, 328 had suffered major damage, and 122 had been completely destroyed.
Additional losses included 143 damaged washing and sanitation facilities, 292 ancillary facilities, 1,669 damaged chairs, 10,693 damaged learning materials, and 564 pieces of damaged information technology equipment.
Miranda said 31 schools also experienced soil erosion or flooding.
She added that schools unsafe for in-person classes have shifted to alternative learning methods similar to those used during the COVID-19 pandemic, including modular, online, and hybrid systems.
“We cannot risk the safety of learners and teachers. If facilities are unsafe, we must temporarily shift to other learning modalities so children’s education continues,” she said.
DepEd’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council engineers are currently assessing facility and logistics damage on-site.
