QUEZON CITY, (PIA) — The Quezon City government on Friday clarified why it opted to implement localized class suspension rather than overall suspension of classes during inclement weather conditions following the provisions of Memorandum No. 10-A, s. 2022, pursuant to Department of Education (DepEd) Order No. 037, s. 2022.
Under Memorandum No. 10-A,s. 2022, public school classes from Kinder to Grade 12 (Senior High School) are automatically canceled once the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) issue either a Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal, Orange and Red Rainfall Warning, or a Flood Warning.
Private schools, community learning centers, as well as the state and local universities and colleges are meanwhile given the discretion to adhere with the guidelines specified in the memorandum.
In this regard, Mayor Joy Belmonte stressed the need for a localized suspension of classes to discern the balance between the safety and learning needs of students.
“Our city is the largest city in the Metro and constitutes around 1/4 of the entire region’s land area. There are instances when it will rain hard in Fairview in District 5 and not a single drop in Tatalon in District 4. Sometimes, light to moderate rains in Bagong Silangan (District 2) will cause flooding, but will not have the same effect in N.S. Amoranto (District 1). Then there’s climate change causing extreme and sudden weather changes,” Belmonte explained.
“That is why we need to implement a localized suspension scheme otherwise, the education of the students in the entire city will suffer. Our decisions will always be data-driven and evidence-based, hence we will make necessary announcements and suspensions depending on the data provided for by our weather systems and infrastructure,” she added.
In the absence of rainfall signals and warnings from PAGASA, the QC Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (QCDRRMC) is authorized to recommend a city-wide suspension of classes to the Office of the Mayor after the conduct of the necessary Pre-Disaster Risk Assessment (PRDA).
The local DRRMO shall make the announcement no later than 4:00 am in consideration of morning classes and 10:00 am relative to the start of afternoon classes. Without such declaration, barangays can announce a localized class suspension in public schools under their jurisdictions until 4:30 and 10:30 in the morning, respectively.
The suspension of classes in private schools, including higher education institutions (HEIs), will be based on the assessment and decision of their administrators.
With the localized suspension in place, DepEd-QC Schools Division Office Head Carleen Sedilla ensured the parents that the students who will not be able to attend the class due to unsafe weather conditions are excused from their school activities with no corresponding sanctions.
To ensure learning continuity, schools have been instructed to pre-identify learning tasks that students may complete at home,” said Sedilla.
It can be recalled that the Quezon City government received criticisms from its constituents after initially implementing a localized suspension of morning classes last September 4.
The local government later declared the cancellation of afternoon classes in all levels of public and private schools due to the persistent heavy rainfall. (QC PAISD/PIA-NCR)
