CAMIGUIN (PIA) -- The Department of Education (DepEd) in Camiguin shared their preparedness measures for addressing the challenges brought by El Niño.

During the live airing of Alerto! on FMRadio 98.3 on April 16, DepEd Nurse and School Head Unit Francisco C. Luspo Jr. explained that class suspensions are based on the current heat index reported by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). 

Additionally, Division Memorandum No. 152 Series of 2024, released on April 3, provides guidelines for the suspension or cancellation of classes due to El Niño. If classes are suspended, schools are required to implement alternative delivery modes or modular learning.

“Ang atong Department of Education naglantaw gayud para sa kaayuhan sa atong mga empleyado, labi na para sa atong mga estudyante. Nagpahigayon ta og contingency plan for El Niño phenomenon last March 9,” Bacasnot said.

[Our Department of Education looks out for the well-being of our employees, especially our students. We conducted a contingency plan for the El Niño phenomenon last March 9.]

Luspo Jr. elaborated that their response to the extreme heat of El Niño focuses on specific areas. The primary focus is on learning delivery, where they implement what they refer to as asynchronous methods. This means that if the weather becomes exceedingly hot, DOST will assess the situation, and accordingly, they will switch to what they call alternative delivery mode. In this mode, there are no traditional classes; instead, learning is done through modular methods.

“Ang sunod nga key area is safety and health-related. Ang mitigating measures nato diha, kinahanglan gayud nga naa mga first aid kits sa schools," he added.

[The next key area is safety and health-related. The mitigating measures we have there, there must be first aid kits in schools.]

As experienced by many, extreme heat may continuously rise therefore sufficient water supply is needed.

“During our contingency planning sa finalization namo nga naa gayud didto nakasulat nga kung ni-hit ang inyong scarce ang water supply sa school, gi-encourage gayud ang mga bata nga magdala gayud sila sa ilang mga tumblers,” Luspo Jr. further explained.

[During our contingency planning in the finalization, it was written that if the school's water supply is scarce, the children are encouraged to bring their tumblers.]

Checking of electrical wirings is also encouraged to avoid the possibility of an open fire.

DepEd Disaster Risk Reduction Management (DRRM) Coordinator and Project Development Officer II Guilbert G. Bacasnot said they also instructed school principals to inspect their electrical wiring due to the heat. This precaution is necessary to prevent potential fires. Furthermore, they advised guards across Camiguin to minimize open fires as they conducted inspections throughout the area.

“Apil atong mga guwardiya ato nang gipang-ingnan sa pagtuyok namo sa tibook Camiguin wala sa gayud open fire as much as possible [Including our guards, we told them when we went around the whole of Camiguin to avoid open fires as much as possible]," Bacasnot added.

According to Bacasnot, together with the Bureau of Fire Protection, they also conduct a yearly fire awareness and inspection in every school in the province. (MGAB/PIA-10)