Cebu City Central School (CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO)
Classes in two public schools in Cebu City will be suspended starting on January 10 until January 15 as classrooms will be used to house Sinulog Festival contingents coming from other provinces.
Cebu City Division Superintendent Bianito Dagatan said that the Cebu City Central School will accommodate the contingent from Tangub City (Misamis Occidental) and Catbalogan City (Samar) while the Abellana National High School will be occupied by contingents from Dumaguete City (Negros Oriental) and Lanao Del Norte.
“The two schools were chosen to accommodate the out-of-town contingents because the areas are accessible and near the venue,” Dagatan told Cebu Daily News.
The dance parade, which will be held on January 15, will culminate at the Cebu City Sports Center, which is adjacent to the Abellana National High School campus.
For those coming from the different towns and cities of Cebu province participating in the Sinulog sa Kabataan sa Lalawigan set this Saturday, January 7, they will be housed in two other public schools in the city.
The contingents from the cities of Carcar and Naga and the town of Ginatilan will occupy the Labangon Elementary School in Barangay Labagon.
The Zapatera Elementary School will be occupied by the contingents from the cities of Danao and Bogo while the Zapatera National High School building has been assigned to the Dumanjug town contingent.
Dagatan said no classes will be disrupted this week since the contingents for the Sinulog sa Kabataan sa Lalawigan will start occupying their assigned schools after classes have ended tomorrow and will vacate the rooms by Sunday.
Those contingents of the Sinulog sa Kabataan sa Lalawigan who will be joining the grand parade on January 15 can also occupy the Zapatera Elementary School, Zapatera National High School and Labangon Elementary School on January 13.
Make up classes
As a policy, there will be an automatic make-up classes for students in the affected schools to enable them to complete the 201 school days for the school year.
“We are still waiting for the guidelines and schedule for the official make-up classes especially those schools are affected by the almost one week of no classes,” Dagatan told Cebu Daily News.
As of yesterday, there is no official declaration from Cebu City Division that there will be no classes on January 16, a day after the Sinulog grand parade.
Dagatan said they leave to the different local governments units in Cebu to decide if they will suspend classes on January 16.
Cebu City and its neighboring towns and cities usually suspend classes a day after the Sinulog Festival’s grand parade to give time to residents to rest, particularly the students who took part in the dance parade.
This year, however, no school in Cebu City is participating in the Sinulog sa Kabataan sa Dakbayan as they have been excluded from the activity on the order of Mayor Tomas Osmeña so as not to disrupt classes in favor of dance practices.