Quake-hit schools need around P1.3B for repair and reconsruction

The Department of Education (DepEd) said that an estimated P 1.298 billion is needed for the repair and reconstruction of totally and partially damaged classrooms by the magnitude 7 earthquake that hit northern Luzon and was felt in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

On Friday night, the DepEd said that there are now 226 damaged schools from the 9,539 affected schools, according to its updated field report.

Based on the latest Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Service (DRRMS) information, the 226 damaged schools were from Cordillera Administrative Region with 132, Ilocos Region with 49, Cagayan Valley Region with 25, Central Luzon Region with 18, and 1 schools respectively from Calabarzon Region and National Capital Region.

In these schools, 422 classrooms were totally damaged while 636 classrooms were partially major damaged.

Meanwhile, majority of the 3,536 schools that declared suspension of work in the aftermath of the earthquake have resumed on Thursday, July 28.

Aside from the ongoing disaster response efforts, the agency’s Education Facilities Division also mobilized engineers from Region 2 to augment the workforce of CAR and Region 1 for structural assessment of schools.

DepEd Central Office representatives also attended the Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) and Internally Displaced Person Protection (IDPP) cluster meeting to discuss ongoing response operations and reporting arrangements.

In addition, the National Education Cluster Partners conducted rapid assessment of damages and immediate needs and determined regions or divisions needing Psychological First Aid (PFA).

If you like this article, share it on social media by clicking any of the icons below.

Or in case you haven’t subscribed yet to our newsletter, please click SUBSCRIBE so you won’t miss the daily real estate news updates delivered right to your Inbox.

The article was originally published in Business Mirror and written by Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco.